News: Location decision: The location of a new regional hospital for the northeast will be decided in June.
The HSE has hired consultants to carry out a detailed study of population and public access, as well as planning and development concerns. The new facility will replace the current Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda.
The Health Partnership Group Consultancy will liaise with all interest groups. Submissions from the public and other groups must be received by April 20th. The panel will give its decision on June 9th.
Autism name test:A child's failure to respond to his or her name at one year of age may be an early warning sign of autism or other developmental problems. Researchers from the University of California Davis, in Sacramento, say the finding is significant because "earlier identification of autism offers the possibility of early intervention".
The study, published in the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, involved 101 children aged one, whose older siblings had autism and who were therefore considered at risk.
They were compared to 46 infants of the same age who were not believed to be at high risk.The tests found that all infants in the low-risk group responded to their name being called on the first or second go, compared to 86 per cent in the at-risk group.
Quote:"We can play hard ball on this one for as long as the day is in it but somewhere, sometime, negotiations will have to begin and we're just simply saying . . . they should start sooner rather than later."
- General Secretary of the (INO) Liam Doran on the nurses' dispute.