Locals to fund hospital report

MEDICAL and nursing staff at a Tipperary hospital are to join with a local hospital action group to develop and fund a €50,000 blueprint on how their hospital should be developed.

The Health Services Action Group (HSAG) said the report on Nenagh General Hospital was even "more necessary in light of the latest death at Monaghan General Hospital" - a death which is being directly linked to the downgrading of the hospital.

The HSAG was formed in the aftermath of the publication of the Hanly report which recommended the centralisation of specialist services at regional centres and the abolition of round-the-clock emergency services in local hospitals.