Angry reaction:The Medical Laboratory Scientists Association has reacted angrily to a new report on the reorganisation of hospital laboratory services across the State.
More than two dozen hospitals face losing their laboratory medicine services under the plan, drawn up by the Health Service Executive (HSE) and submitted to the Department of Health for approval.
The HSE said a centralised laboratory system would be more efficient and would require less staff, resulting in "substantial savings". Details of the as yet unpublished report were revealed in yesterday's The Irish Times.
Terry Casey, national general secretary of the Medical Laboratory Scientists Association, said: "The proposed reduction in numbers of medical laboratory scientists by up to 50 per cent is shocking and unrealistic, as is the potential move of 'cold' laboratory services to the private sector".
A spokeswoman for the Department of Health said it had been in discussions with the HSE on the report and that these would resume after the summer break. It declined to comment on whether it supported the thrust of the HSE proposals.
Vomiting bug:Waterford Regional Hospital remains closed to visitors, save in exceptional circumstances (such as families visiting critically ill patients), in an attempt to contain an outbreak of the winter vomiting bug. Some seven patients at the hospital are presently displaying symptoms of vomiting and/or diarrhoea, the Health Service Executive (HSE) said yesterday. The hospital has had to curb visits since last month as a result of the outbreak.
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"It is appalling that those who dedicate themselves to saving lives and to public service should be subjected to verbal and physical abuse."
- Northern Ireland Health Minister Michael McGimpsey, after an unconscious man receiving medical treatment from paramedics woke up and punched one of his carers in the face in north Belfast on Sunday night.