Coffins to be paraded outside Dáil over A&E cuts

TWENTY-FOUR coffins are to be paraded outside the Dáil to highlight the number of people who will needlessly lose their lives each year if a west Cork hospital has its A&E services downgraded.

The Friends of Bantry General Hospital are planning a massive campaign to highlight planned HSE cutbacks at the hospital and fear that their A&E department will lose its 24-hour status.

Friends of Bantry General Hospital chairman, Tom Barry, said medical experts had informed his organisation that if the A&E is closed after 5pm emergencies would have to be diverted to Cork University Hospital (CUH).