Downgrade of hospital ‘runs the risk of losing lives’

THE Health Services Action Group (HSAG) has welcomed a report arguing against the downgrading of Ennis General Hospital.

The hospital’s accident and emergency staff said they save 20 lives every year. “If you lose local services, you also run the risk of losing lives,” HSAG spokeswoman, Senator Kathleen O’Meara warned yesterday.

If the Monaghan Hospital experience was replicated in hospitals around the country more people would die prematurely, she said.