Hospital consultants and the Health Service Executive have differed over the consequences of a report into the death of an elderly man at Monaghan General Hospital almost a year ago.
The report found the death of 76-year-old Pat Joe Walsh was avoidable and it recommended that acute in-patient services at the hospital be suspended immediately.
The deputy general secretary of the Irish Hospital Consultants’ Association has said surgeons at Monaghan General Hospital cannot guarantee that transfer patients will be admitted to Cavan hospital.
Donal Duffy said a 2005 directive requiring surgeons to operate on patients transferred from Monaghan to Cavan is unworkable.
Mr Duffy said it would be more appropriate to bring patients for treatment to a hospital with the available resources.
However, Chris Lyons, network manager of the HSE's North Eastern Hospital's group, said clinicians supported the report's recommendations and the directive was working.
