The number of criminal trials held in the Circuit Court has increased by over 20%. More than 2,500 Circuit Court trials took place last year – an increase of a fifth over two years.

The Department of Health last night insisted it is committed to providing high quality care for stroke patients in Northern Ireland in response to criticism that it was denying sufferers a ‘clot- busting’ drug.

A male nurse at the Ulster Hospital in Dundonald has been struck off the medical register for inappropriate behaviour. Jonathan Gourley, 32, a nurse in an orthopaedic ward, made suggestive comments to female members of staff and touched them inappropriately.

The Health Service Executive has announced that it is to appoint 60 new consultants to hospitals that have high-performing accident and emergency departments.

The largest psychiatric hospital in Co Cork has had to replace its water treatment system after traces of E. coli were found in the water supply. The water system at St Stephen’s Hospital in Glanmire also supplies 17 private houses in the hospital grounds.

The Health Service Executive said it will complete the recruitment of staff shortly to address issue of elder abuse. The announcement came after figures released by the Courts Services showed an increase in the number of parents taking out barring and safety orders against their adult children.

A new study has reportedly found that Ireland’s suicide rate may be significantly higher than previously accepted.

More than 25 hospitals around the country could reportedly lose their laboratory services under a new cost-cutting plan from the HSE.

The number of men accused of rape in Northern Ireland has more than doubled in just two years, the Belfast Telegraph can reveal today.

Police in the North have charged an 18-year-old man with assaulting an ambulance worker who was trying to treat him in Belfast.