The family of a 15-year-old boy who drowned in the River Shannon heard today how a lifebuoy which could have possibly saved their son's life had been removed by vandals.  

THE opposite may be intended, but there is something worrying about walking into a hospital and finding instructions on the wall explaining when and how to wash your hands.

The Tánaiste has said the Government has “no intention” of closing any emergency departments but has admitted the system must be overhauled.

Minister for Health Simon Harris has denied that emergency departments in rural areas may be shut down in the near future after a leaked document revealed plans to axe trauma care from nine hospitals.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny has insisted reforming the country’s’ maternity services remains a “priority” for the new Government, despite three tragic deaths emerging in the past week and revelations that reports into three other incidents have yet to be published.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny's new government is facing its first controversy amid reports of radical health service reform which opponents have said are out of the "Tory handbook".

It’s back to normal today for the family of the baby girl who couldn’t wait to come motoring into this world.

An investigation into the deaths of a number of babies at a Galway hospital is now being widened.

Whether the babies deprived of oxygen during delivery at Portiuncula Hospital will suffer long-term effects is unclear — but despite the uncertainty around the five cases, the health minister has reassured women that maternity services are safe.

Patients and doctors alike have backed claims that some maternity services are a danger to women.

Junior doctors have claimed strong public support for their strike over working hours.

The Minister for Health James Reilly has said no acute hospital will close as a result of the reorganisation of hospitals.

A man is being treated for serious head injuries at a Galway hospital after a crash this morning.

Criticism of the decision to allow the wife of a member of the Oireachtas committee hearing submissions on abortion to make her own submission has been rejected by her husband.

Nurses have warned that the Tallaght emergency department overcrowding crisis is being hidden from public view and not resolved, despite senior government figures insisting this is not happening.

THE Department of Health has abandoned plans to bring in private management to resurrect the fortunes of the main hospitals in the West and will instead rely on the abilities of two existing senior health employees.

A LEADING hospital consultant who ran for election for Fine Gael said he has become “demoralised” by the situation in the health services and is concerned about patient safety as doctors are increasingly over-worked.

ONE Irish and four British private companies are vying to win a lucrative contract to effectively manage two of Ireland’s largest regional hospitals for the next 15 months.

A woman has died in a road accident in County Roscommon.

Unions and the HSE have been meeting in Galway over the future of Portiuncula Hospital in Ballinasloe.

Talks get underway at the Labour Relations Commission in Galway later in a bid to resolve a row over hospital services.

A SURGEON, who has agreed to be censured by the Medical Council for failing to provide a medical report for a teenage road traffic victim, said his patients were his primary concern, not the interests of the legal profession.

TWO workers at Limerick’s Dell computer plant were killed in a horrific road accident, which claimed four lives at the weekend.

DISTURBED and violent psychiatric patients have nowhere to go due to a chronic shortage of secure beds, according to Fine Gael spokesman for Mental Heath, Dan Neville.

WE have learned with dismay of the proposed transfer of symptomatic breast services from Mayo General Hospital to University College Hospital Galway (UCHG), which is to be 90% completed by the end of 2009.

A GROUP of consultants have come together to publicly object to suspected plans to end round the clock emergency services at their county hospital.

A WOMAN in her 80s was killed yesterday in a crash in Co Cork. Her husband was seriously injured.

Gardaí are investigating a fatal road accident in Co Galway last night.

FINANCE Minister CharlieMcCreevy will give the Ombudsman powers to investigate complaints about some of the country's biggest hospitals, his spokeswoman said yesterday.

PROTESTS are planned against the proposed downgrading of several regional hospitals around the country.