Doctor may sue minister over hospital figures

AS 1,000 people marched over the closure of Roscommon Hospital’s emergency department (ED), it emerged one doctor is on the verge of legal action against the health minister over figures presented to illustrate the need to shut the facility.

The consultant has taken issue over Health Minister James Reilly telling the Dáil earlier this month that cardiac patients attending Roscommon Hospital had a mortality rate of 21.3%, four times the mortality rate of those admitted to Galway University Hospital.

The Roscommon Hospital Action Committee (RHAC) has said its figures showed an overall mortality rate of between 3.5% and 6% at the hospital over the past three years.