North-east hospital - Plans for hospital a first step

IT will take more than a new hospital to resolve the difficulties facing the health service in the north-east region. Yet, the proposed 700-bed facility announced yesterday is a significant step in the right direction.

People in neglected communities are hoping the blueprint will mean an end to the problems besetting hospitals in their region. As Professor Brendan Drumm, head of the Health Service Executive concedes, they are not well served by the existing system.

The new hospital plan arises from a report commissioned amid public outrage over the death of 75-year-old Patrick Joseph Walsh who bled to death in Monaghan General Hospital because surgeons there were barred from doing emergency work. No bed could be found for him at other hospitals.