Hospital may see ‘unviable’ services cut

The hospital at the centre of the centre of a damning investigation into avoidable deaths of newborn babies may see its services cut or significantly downgraded in light of the life-threatening care standards revelations.

Health Minister Leo Varadkar confirmed that the move is being considered after long-term safety concerns were identified by State watchdog the Health Information Quality Authority (Hiqa).

The 208-page report, which was published yesterday despite a recent HSE threat to take a High Court injunction to prevent its release, was set up after a January 2014 RTÉ expose uncovered the deaths of five newborn babies at the hospital from a lack of oxygen between 2006 and 2012 because staff failed to properly monitor signs of foetal distress.