Consultant group condemns plan to end weekend surgery

PLANS by the Health Service Executive to end weekend emergency surgery at a Cork hospital have been condemned by the Irish Hospital Consultants Association.

Yesterday, IHCA deputy general secretary Donal Duffy said the HSE could not expect to slash the consultant surgical staff by a third at Mallow General hospital without it having a significant impact on patient care.

“You can’t take away one third of the service and not create a knock-on effect for patients. We would agree with consultants at the hospital that the proposals not to fill a third consultant post will put patient care at risk,” Mr Duffy said.