News

Over 300,000 fewer outpatient appointments in March, April and May 2020 compared with 2019 means thousands of patients have postponed seeking care and referrals to hospitals for appointment;  Hidden increase in waiting lists due to reduction of non-emergency and non-COVID-19 care in acute hospitals during pandemic;  Number of inpatients treated decreased by around 43,000 and day case procedures fell by almost 128,000 over same period compared with last year;  816,716 people are now waiting on some form of NTPF waiting list, an increase of 47,952 since the start of 2020.  The Irish Hospital Consultants Association (IHCA) has today, Friday, 10 July 2020 warned that the number of people who need acute hospital care could be greater than reported. 

Dr Donal O’Hanlon, President of the Irish Hospital Consultants Association, has welcomed the formation of the new Government and the appointment of Mr Stephen Donnelly as Minister for Health.

Commenting on the publication of the draft Programme for Government today (Monday 15 June 2020)

9,137 added to public outpatient and inpatient/day case waiting lists in May, as 808,447 now on some form of NTPF waiting list; Around 1 in 5 of the Irish population find themselves waiting for public hospital care;  Programme for Government must include clear financial commitments to open additional beds and fill hospital consultant posts to tackle the waiting list backlog and plan for continued delivery of care in a COVID-19 environment. IHCA President Dr Donal O’Hanlon: “COVID-19 presents major challenges for the provision of timely care in our acute public hospitals and acute mental health units. The Government and the health service management must engage with the IHCA and its hospital consultants to develop realistic, practical plans to provide public hospital care in the coming months and agree on how best we can meet the challenges ahead.”

“The IHCA welcomes today’s decision by the Government not to seek an extension of the agreement with Private Hospitals, which will end on 30th June. 

13,231 added to public outpatient and inpatient/day case waiting lists in April, as 796,603 now on some form of NTPF waiting list; Delays in providing care to non-COVID patients of private and public hospitals and cancellation of surgeries during COVID-19 crisis will increase waiting lists further; Urgent implementation of the 2018 National Development Plan and Capacity Review recommendations to put in place an additional 2,600 acute hospital beds and 4,500 community care beds is now more important than ever and needs to be funded without delay.   The Irish Hospital Consultants Association (IHCA) has, today, (Saturday, 16 May 2020), renewed its call for the urgent implementation of the 2018 National Development Plan (NDP) and Capacity Review recommendations to put in place an additional 2,600 acute hospital beds and 4,500 community care beds across our health service. 

Acknowledgment by Fianna Fáil that private hospital ‘contract not working’ and must be reviewed welcome;

Over the past week, the Irish Hospital Consultants Association (IHCA) has, on behalf of our members, engaged with the Health Service Executive (HSE) on the issue of working arrangements for the provision of care to all patients during the COVID-19 emergency.

On 30 March last, the Government announced it had reached agreement with private hospitals across the State to use their facilities for the treatment of both Covid-19 and non Covid-19 patients.   Approximately, 500 consultants working at these hospitals who currently treat private patients only are to receive temporary HSE locum contracts to cover their work during the COVID-19 crisis period.   Many of these consultants have expressed concern about the terms of such contracts and specifically, their negative impact on the patients they currently treat.    Under the proposed terms of these contracts, consulting rooms will be forced to shut to outpatients, for both current and future private outpatients.    Nationally, a large number of outpatient consultations will be impacted as a result. This will have considerable knock-on detrimental impacts on the quality of care received by these patients and by all patients accessing hospital services.   Examples of treatments currently undertaken at these consulting rooms include patients with possible cancer-related symptoms, post-operative wounds or blocked catheter issues.    Patients availing of these services are also naturally concerned, with private clinics receiving many queries from patients who have concerns about their ongoing care and treatment.