IHCA highlights the overwhelming capacity constraints to Minister for Health
IHCA highlights the overwhelming capacity constraints to Minister for Health
30th May, 2016: The Irish Hospital Consultants Association (IHCA) today met with Mr Simon Harris, Minister for Health, to discuss the overwhelming capacity constraints which are preventing the provision of care to patients, leading to unacceptable delays with record numbers of patients being treated on trolleys and a growing number of patients on surgical and other waiting lists.
Dr Gerard Crotty, IHCA President, said the Association’s discussions with Minister Harris confirmed the need for immediate investment in frontline services to address critical capacity deficits. This, Dr Crotty said, is because frontline resources were cut steeply during austerity and funding has not been provided to cater for the country’s increasing and ageing population. In particular, he added, there needs to be a significant increase in the number of hospital beds and operating theatre access.
Dr Crotty said that there is no need for lengthy studies to confirm what is already very clear. Hundreds of patients are being treated on trolleys every day, over 74,000 patients were awaiting essential surgery at the end of April and the cancellation of surgical appointments is a regular occurrence because of the shortage of hospital beds. In the past decade 1,500 acute hospital beds have been closed. The number of intensive care unit (ICU) beds has declined from 289 in 2009 when the HSE commissioned Prospectus Report recommended that the number of ICU beds needed to be increased by 45% immediately and doubled to 579 by 2020. Dr Crotty said patients’ lives were being put at risk due to the lack of ICU beds.
Dr Crotty said it is acknowledged that Ireland is suffering a damaging medical brain drain which has resulted in one in four advertised consultant posts receiving no applicants last year. The combined impact in recent years is that there are now hundreds of approved hospital consultant posts which cannot be filled on a permanent basis. The IHCA President said these vacancies are exacerbating delays in treating patients and adversely impacting patient outcomes. Dr Crotty has called on Minister Harris to end the discrimination against new entrant consultants and honour the 2008 Consultant Contract to restore trust and our international competiveness in recruiting consultants.
The IHCA delegation highlighted to Minister Harris that there is an urgent need to reform Tort Law, implement without delay the Pre-Action Protocols enacted in 2015 and effect other essential changes, as the escalating cost of clinical indemnity is unsustainable. Dr Crotty said that indemnity costs are forcing consultants to cease practice and emigrate because of increases since 2012 of between 100% and 400% depending on the specialty.
Dr Crotty welcomes Minister Harris’s commitment to work on a collaborative basis with the Association and its consultant members in developing the proposed 10-year Health Service Plan, which the Association said must be realistic and supported by the necessary resources and funding.
ENDS
For more information:
James Dunny, FleishmanHillard - +353 6188 417 / + 353 86 388 3903
Fiona Murphy, FleishmanHillard - +353 6188 470 / +353 87 819 4464