Published: Thursday, 12th November, 2009 10:51am

Breaking news......Hospital anger over plans to axe 41 beds

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Staff at the Midland Regional Hospital in Mullingar are up in arms over moves to close 20 per cent of the hospital's beds today, Thursday.

An emergency letter was drafted yesterday (Wednesday) by senior medical staff and is being sent to Professor Brendan Drumm and Minister Mary Harney, warning them that if the HSE goes ahead today with plans to axe 41 surgical beds, the hospital will become "unsafe".

Senior medical staff at the hospital claim that 41 surgical beds are being closed today, as the HSE merges the male and female surgical wards at the hospital.

While there are 13 additional daybeds to be installed at the hospital, staff claim that won't in any way make up for the closure of the beds.

The closure comes on top of the closure of 16 beds earlier this Summer.

TD Willie Penrose is raising the issue in Dáil Éireann today.

A HSE spokesman said on Thursday morning that they weren't aware of bed closures at the hospital, and that the re-opening of the sixteen beds closed earlier this year was under consideration.