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44% of trainee specialist doctors indicate intention to go abroad to practise medicine;  86% of doctors in training consistently working over 40 hours a week; 46% work over 48 hours; Ireland has lowest number of specialist doctors in EU;  “At a time when we need more doctors, we’re losing them” — IHCA President, Alan Irvine  The Irish health system is losing its future Hospital Consultants at an alarming rate despite the huge need for them here, the Irish Hospital Consultants Association has warned. 

Over 897,000 people waiting to be treated or assessed by a hospital Consultant across the country;  An increase of more than 58,400 people added to the lists so far in 2021; Inroads in main outpatient and inpatient/day case lists are offset by escalating delays in other lists such as planned procedures;  Ongoing Consultant contract discussions critically important to filling the 1 in 5 vacant consultant posts and reducing waiting lists. IHCA President Prof Alan Irvine: “The scale and complexity of what the health service now faces over the winter months and into 2022 is unprecedented. We have a backlog of care greater than anything we have seen over the past decade. We are not bringing these lists under control quick enough and the lack of progress this year is really damning.”

Over 97,000 children now on hospital waiting lists across the country—1 in 12 children in Ireland; 38,600 children waiting over 12 months for care, with 29,000 waiting more than 18 months;  Children waiting excessively long for care could suffer life-long health and developmental issues; IHCA President, Professor Alan Irvine: “We must make the recruitment of additional paediatric consultants a priority now. Conditions which could have been reversed or mitigated against are deteriorating. We’re facing a ticking time bomb of children suffering health and developmental issues due to delays in accessing care.” The Irish Hospital Consultants Association (IHCA) has today (9 December 2021) called on health service leaders to address the severe consultant shortages in paediatric care, warning of a ‘ticking time bomb’ in children’s hospital care. 

Orthopaedics, Dermatology, Gynaecology, and Rheumatology outpatient waiting lists in North-East hospitals increased by 49%, or 5,182 additional people, in past six years;  15,868 people awaiting assessment by a Consultant in Orthopaedics, Dermatology, Gynaecology and Rheumatology at Cavan, Drogheda, Dundalk and Navan hospitals; Our Lady’s Hospital, Navan has seen outpatient waiting lists almost double compared with 2015; Our Lady of Lourdes, Drogheda now has the fourth largest Dermatology outpatient waiting list (4,500 people) in the entire country; One in four approved permanent hospital Consultant posts in the North-East are not filled as needed, which is the root cause of delays in providing timely care to the 36,000 people on waiting lists in the region. IHCA President Prof Alan Irvine: “The severe shortage of consultants across the North-East region is the main contributor to the unacceptable delays in providing care to patients. The Government must make good on its promise to deliver the extra beds, extra consultants and extra facilities so badly needed to meet the healthcare needs of the 36,000 people in the North-East currently waiting to be assessed or treated by a hospital Consultant.”

Delay in publishing plan does not bode well for difficult weeks and months ahead; Shortfalls in beds and staffing already causing delays and cancellations for the 904,000 people on hospital waiting lists;  Prediction of severe flu season on top of continued Covid-19 pressures and ED overcrowding could result in ‘most challenging winter in years’; Strategic, empathetic leadership needed to deliver multi-annual plans for the health service, with devolved, local decision making and implementation at its core.   Commenting on the publication of the HSE Winter Plan 2021-22 on Monday 15 November 2021, Professor Alan Irvine, President of the Irish Hospital Consultants Association (IHCA) said: 

Instead of reduction of 18,300 people on waiting lists by end of October, numbers have reduced by 10,700 since August – a 7,600 shortfall; 904,000 people still on some form of public hospital waiting list; 97,400 of these are children; 70-fold increase seen in the number of patients waiting over 12 months for hospital inpatient or day case treatment since 2012; 217 people have been added to public hospital waiting lists every single day since the start of 2021 – that’s 9 people added every hour, 24 hours a day; Ongoing Consultant contract discussions critically important to filling the 1 in 5 vacant consultant posts and reducing waiting lists. IHCA President Prof Alan Irvine: “The four-month waiting list action plan published by the Department of Health and HSE in October was never ambitious enough, given the fact that we have nearly 1 million people waiting for care. Unfortunately, the plan’s modest targets are now unlikely to be met by year end. Any medium-term Government plan to address the record waiting lists which does not simultaneously address the Consultant recruitment and retention crisis is destined to fail.” 

Ear, nose and throat waiting lists are some of the longest across all specialties

Over the past six years almost 87,000 additional people have been added to outpatient waiting lists at Dublin hospitals which now total 242,000 - a 56% increase overall. Number of patients waiting longer than a year for hospital treatment has increased by 42% since 2015, with a massive 4-fold increase in children waiting longer than 12 months for care. Predicted severe flu season would make catching up on backlog of missed care extremely challenging say hospital consultants. Consultant recruitment crisis in Dublin’s acute hospital and mental health services is root cause of delays in providing care, accounting for over one third of all consultant posts unfilled on permanent basis nationally. IHCA President Prof Alan Irvine: “Our health service, hospital management and clinical teams in the capital need fully funded plans in place to fill the 240 vacant permanent consultant posts across Dublin’s acute hospital and mental health services and increase hospital capacity, ahead of what may be the most challenging winter ever for the health service.” 

Over the past six years nearly 31,000 additional people have been added to outpatient waiting lists at hospitals in the Mid-West region - a 113% increase overall; The inpatient/day case waiting lists in the UL Hospitals Group have increased by a third over the same period, and now total 6,075 patients;  University Hospital Limerick has the second highest outpatient waiting list in the country, increasing nearly three-fold since 2015 to over 48,000 people; Consultant recruitment crisis in region’s hospitals is root cause of delays in providing care, with around 1 in 3 permanent Consultant posts vacant or not filled as needed. IHCA President Prof Alan Irvine: “The severe shortage of consultants across the UL Hospitals Group is the main contributor to the unacceptable delays in providing care to patients in the Mid-West region. Meeting the healthcare needs of the 69,000 people currently waiting to be assessed or treated by a Consultant at hospitals within the group will only be possible by urgently filling these vacancies and expanding the region’s hospital beds, operating theatre and other essential hospital facilities now.” 

Record 910,000 people now on some form of public hospital waiting list; More than 1 million people predicted to be waiting for treatment by the end of the year; 98,190 children on NTPF waiting lists; 4 in 10 waiting longer than a year to be assessed by a Consultant; Almost 150-fold increase seen in the number of patients waiting over 12 months for hospital inpatient or day case treatment since 2012; Number waiting for an outpatient appointment with a Consultant has increased by over 41,000 in the past year alone and by almost 175,000 (37%) since May 2017, when Sláintecare reforms were launched; 261 people have been added to public hospital waiting lists every single day since the start of 2021 – almost 11 people added every hour, 24 hours a day; Ongoing Consultant contract discussions critically important to filling the 1 in 5 vacant consultant posts and reducing waiting lists Prof Alan Irvine, President, IHCA: “The ongoing talks between the Department of Health, the HSE and hospital consultant representatives concerning employment contracts must deliver on the ‘unambiguous commitment’ made by the Minister for Health to resolve the pay inequity issue for all Consultants contracted since 2012. This issue is critical to filling the one in five permanent consultant posts that are currently vacant or filled on a temporary basis and reducing these unacceptable patient waiting times. If Government fails to develop a meaningful plan to fill the more than 720 permanent Consultant posts that remain vacant, its plan on reducing waiting lists will fail.”