A leading consultant warned that acute hospitals are facing one of the most challenging winters in the history of Irish healthcare due to renewed Covid-19 cases, the traditional winter flu and a chronic shortage of hospital beds, doctors and nurses.
rofessor Rob Landers of University Hospital Waterford (UHW) said the problem is not just a result of the Covid pandemic, but years of under-funding and poor planning by successive governments, which has left Ireland with just 40pc the average number of consultants in other EU member states.
The problem is further exacerbated by population growth and the rapid ageing of the Irish population.
Worse still, Ireland also has just 40pc the average number of acute hospital beds.
“It is going to squeeze us hugely. We have waiting lists at an unprecedented level. We have a shortage of beds and a shortage of consultants. All of those combined is going to make it a very tough winter for Irish hospitals,” Prof Landers told WLRFM.
He said that despite the impact of Covid-19 on the healthcare system since 2020, Ireland’s acute hospitals will still be facing into yet another winter of bed shortages, staff shortages and unacceptable waiting lists.
“We are worried about the winter – even more so than last year,” he said.
“We are coming out of a pandemic, obviously, and we are worried that there will be a resurgence of Covid-19 in the winter.
“On top of that, there will be a resurgence of the common flu. That’s what has happened in Australia and they are a season ahead of us.”
“They are just coming out of their winter now and it has been a very tough one over there. Traditionally, we follow that pattern that happens in Australia so there is no reason to think that it won’t happen here.”
Prof Landers warned that the Government must do something urgently to tackle waiting lists and can no longer use Covid-19 for cover.
“The hospital authorities are doing the best they can at a local level. You take the hospital here in Waterford – there’s tremendous initiatives and people are thinking about new ways of doing things,” he said.
“We have done so over the last two years, we have survived Covid-19. On the ground, people are working really hard to try and lessen the effects (on patients) of the lack of resources.
“But at Government level though, we are not seeing any plan to deal with this in the medium to long term. That is a worry. This is nothing new.”
Prof Landers said the Irish healthcare system urgently needed more hospital beds and more staff in terms of nurses, doctors and consultants.
“We have 40pc of the EU average number of consultants per head of population and we have 40pc of the EU average bed numbers,” he said.
“So, until the Government comes up with a plan to address both of those, I’m going to be sitting here this time next year talking about the same pressures and same problems – only they’ll probably be worse.”
Waterford, Cork and Limerick have traditionally been three of the worst-hit areas for long waiting lists and acute hospital bed shortages.
Cork is still awaiting details of its proposed new hospital, while Limerick has secured a new 96-bed in-patient unit, but it will not be ready for use until 2024.
