Vital respite services in Fermoy Community Hospital have been cut due to a staffing crisis. 

The 72-patient facility can currently only care for 58 patients, due the the HSE's failure to fill a position following the retirement of a doctor from the hospital. 

Mr Tadhg O'Donovan, the chair of Fermoy Community Hospital fundraising committee, has called for the HSE to "do everything in their power" to fill the post for a new medical officer, following the retirement of Dr Charles McCarthy last September. 

"The committee has sent a letter to the general manager of the HSE," Mr O'Donovan said. "This is a matter for the HSE at a corporate level. They aren't doing everything in their power to solve this staffing issue."

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