A full inquiry into the practices of a hospital consultant who has been suspended as part of a dispute over how long he kept patients in hospital is expected to begin early in the new year.
The North-Eastern Health Board suspended consultant physician Mr Colman Muldoon on Thursday. He remains on full pay and is on administrative leave from Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda, Co Louth.
The suspension is the culmination of a long-running dispute between the consultant and the health board. Earlier this year the board set up an independent inquiry into his practices. It found that he allegedly kept patients in beds for too long. Mr Muldoon declined to participate in the inquiry.
An independent group of Mr Muldoon's medical peers will be appointed by the health board in January to undertake a full inquiry, a spokesman said. The consultant has appealed the decision to the Minister for Health and Children, Mr Cowen.
Mr Muldoon declined to comment on the matter yesterday. However, he has defended his patient discharge policy in the past, insisting that patients were discharged only when they were ready to leave hospital. That decision could only be made on clinical grounds by a consultant.