‘Doctors have told me it’s a death sentence’

TENS of thousands of people in the south-west face losing live-saving emergency health services with fears that Bantry Hospital is slowly being dripped dry of resources and staff.

Locals are concerned services are set to collapse. The hospital’s only permanent surgeon is finishing up in June and there have been a raft of bed closures.

Budgetary shortfalls, coupled with further cuts expected under a hospital review, have led to fears some facilities, including the hospital’s intensive care unit, could become inoperable.