ALL hospital services were beginning to get back to normal yesterday in the Southern Health Board area.
A spokesperson for the board said patients who had received an appointment or whose admission had been cancelled during the industrial action could expect to receive a new notification. Priority would be given to patients who had their appointments cancelled due to the strike.
The board said it would take a number of days before all services at Cork University Hospital were back to normal. Scheduled outpatient attendances and elective admissions would not resume until Monday next. As well, a board statement said, only dressing and fracture clinics would be operating normally from today and tomorrow. Daycare services will operate normally from next Monday.
At Mallow General Hospital, elective admissions and scheduled out-patient services will resume next Monday. At St Mary's Orthopaedic Hospital, all services will restart on Monday. At Tralee General Hospital, normal services resumed yesterday, and at Bantry General Hospital, according to the board, all services will return to normal on Monday.
Community care services throughout the board's region resumed yesterday, and public health nursing, walk-in clinics, school health services and daycare centres for the elderly were operating.
All mental health services were returning to normal from yesterday morning and scheduled outpatient services were restarted.