50 jobs under threat at Derry private hospital

Fifty jobs are under threat at a private hospital in Co Derry due to a cost-cutting drive by a state health trust in Belfast.

The North-West Independent Hospital in Ballykelly says it has no alternative but to consider redundancies after the trust stopped referring patients in order to reduce its costs.

The 36-bed hospital, which provides orthopaedic and other surgery services, opened 20 years ago.