Up to 1,300 health and social care jobs could be at risk in Northern Ireland as a result of public expenditure cuts and efficiency targets.

An independent report has said excessive drinking costs the public purse in Northern Ireland almost £700m a year.

Residents of the County Fermanagh village of Donagh, where four brothers sexually abused children over 30 years, have appealed for calm.

Health and social care staff are preparing for the move to the new primary care centre at Nairn Town and County Hospital, which will start seeing patients on July 27.

PLANS for the new Palliative Care Unit at Antrim Area Hospital took a step closer to completion this week after the charity behind the project hit its target a year early.

New laws to deal with sex offenders who are mentally unfit to stand trial is under discussion, the health minister has said.

The Priory Group, the UK’s leading independent provider of mental healthcare, has released more details of its ambitious growth plans for care homes for older people in Northern Ireland.

The Health Minister said that further action is needed to tackle the alcohol misuse problem that costs Northern Ireland up to £900million per year.

A couple who abducted their own baby from care have told how they have lost forever the chance to be full-time parents.

A 30-year-old woman and a 22-year-old man have been charged with child abduction. The charges relate to the abduction of Sophie Anderson, 17 months, from the Banbridge area earlier this week.