A PUBLIC meeting was held in Cork yesterday to highlight cutbacks at Mercy University Hospital and St Mary's Orthopaedic Hospital in the city.
Well-attended meetings have been held at the Shandon Court Hotel in Cork in recent months in order to highlight delays in the opening of a new AE unit at the Mercy hospital, which has been idle for the last 18 months.
Management at the hospital announced this year it would open its new €4.7 million emergency department in June, but with curtailed hours which would result in no night opening.
The opening of the new emergency department, which was completed in March 2007, has been delayed because of a dispute over staffing.
Concern has also been expressed after the Health Service Executive (HSE) announced that it was considering transferring orthopaedic services from St Mary's in Gurranabraher to Cork University Hospital.
Yesterday's meeting was organised by members of the Campaign for a Real Public Health Service.
Spokesman for the campaign Jim Cronin said a major protest would have to be organised in the coming weeks and months if the Government failed to address local concerns about the health service.