Groups count needless deaths

THE notice announcing the death of Patrick Walsh said he had gone peacefully but if that is so, the retired farmer’s last moments contrast starkly with the strife his untimely passing has left behind.

Last Friday, Mr Walsh became the latest addition to a tragic list drawn up by campaigners in Monaghan who have taken on the grim job of recording cases of patients who die because their local hospital cannot, or is not allowed, treat them.

The 70-year-old widower from Carrickmacross died from a bleeding ulcer while staff at Monaghan General Hospital waited anxiously for a phone call from any one of three other hospitals they had contacted to look for a surgical bed for him.