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President Dr Donal O’Hanlon said: 

Dr Donal O’Hanlon, President of the IHCA said:    “We welcome today’s announcement from An Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, on the Government’s latest response to COVID-19.    “Hospital consultants are very supportive of the Government measures announced today. The new measures are a necessary step towards facing the unprecedented challenge that the virus presents, namely, the increased risk of community transmission and the priority to now delay the spread of the virus in the period ahead.    “The IHCA and our hospital consultant members have been working closely with the Minister and Department of Health, HSE and our public health experts as the situation has developed and this engagement is ongoing to support efforts to delay and manage the spread and impact of the virus.    “In particular, at the level of our acute public hospitals, significant work is underway to better prepare our acute hospitals for the escalation in demand from coronavirus infected patients. However, our ICU facilities will be challenged, particularly, as we are starting from a position of under resourcing in these units.    “This makes a responsible response from the public even more important. We strongly urge the public and patients to continue to follow the best practice advice of our public health experts who are positioned to give the most appropriate advice over the coming weeks.    “The virus will test all healthcare staff and place huge responsibilities and burdens upon us all. As we have always done, consultants and all front-line hospital staff are working together and facing this challenge as a team, our focus remains on supporting our patients.”    ENDS

46,500 increase in total numbers on NTPF hospital waiting lists since January 2019 Number of outpatients waiting to see a hospital consultant grows by 33,545 to 556,770 over last 12 months Orthopaedics, ENT, dermatology, ophthalmology, general surgery, urology and gynaecology specialties with largest numbers of patients waiting for hospital care IHCA President Dr. Donal O’Hanlon: “Another year has passed by without any discernible improvement for patients in accessing our public hospitals. The figures continue to go in the wrong direction, which is unacceptable. 

IHCA President, Dr Donal O’Hanlon: “The findings of HIQA’s monitoring report on maternity services today outlines a familiar story with our health services – a promising national launch of a health strategy, but a lack of follow through.

IHCA President, Dr Donal O’Hanlon: “The findings of HIQA’s monitoring report on maternity services today outlines a familiar story with our health services – a promising launch of a national health strategy, but a lack of follow through.

Consultant in Intensive Care and Anaesthesia, Dr Tom Ryan: “The Irish National Intensive Care Unit Audit Report today comes as no surprise to those of us who are working on the front-line of our health service. The impact of under-resourced and understaffed Intensive Care Units (ICUs) is felt on a daily basis. 

IHCA President, Dr Donal O’Hanlon: “One month into the new year and we are facing the same issues as ever before. It feels as though politicians are almost immune to the numbers at this stage, and this is a huge concern to hospital consultants.

Hospital consultants appeal to Minister Harris, at face-to-face talks, to immediately address bed and consultant shortages;  Consultants seek Fine Gael and the Minister for Health’s commitment to open 800 public hospital beds within two years and fast-track an additional 2,600 hospital beds by end 2025; The Minister for Health must commit to and resource a maximum waiting time of four hours for patients presenting at Emergency Departments to be admitted to an inpatient bed if needed, discharged home or transferred to an appropriate service;  The Minister must also commit to and resource a maximum waiting time of 18 weeks following a GP referral for a consultant outpatient appointment and for inpatient/day-case public hospital treatment; End failed Government policy of consultant pay discrimination that has caused 500 unfilled permanent consultant posts and added to the misery of one million people waiting for treatment and hundreds languishing on trolleys daily. IHCA President Dr. Donal O’Hanlon: “At today’s meeting, front line hospital consultants appealed to Minister Harris to put politics aside and patients first, by committing to effective targets to deliver timely care to patients which at least match those in the NHS. The delivery of effective targets will require the implementation of practical workable solutions that the IHCA has recommended for years. 

Need for greater dialogue between hospital management and surgical and medical consultant teams to minimise cancellations of essential and urgent surgery; Cancer patients amongst those impacted by the decision to cancel all planned procedures.  IHCA President, Dr Donal O’Hanlon:

43,000 more people on outpatient waiting list than end of year target; 6,500 more patients on inpatient/day case waiting list than Government’s own target for 2019; 137,850 people added to the outpatient waiting list since the Government first took office in May 2016, which is a 33% increase; Despite spending €5m NTPF funding for 5,000 gastrointestinal scopes, the number of patients waiting for endoscopies has increased by almost 3,400 instead of decreasing by 2,300 target. Dr Donal O’Hanlon, IHCA President said: “The Government has failed to meet any of its targets on waiting lists by the end of 2019, despite €75 million NTPF spending. The consultant recruitment and retention crisis, with over 500 permanent consultant posts unfilled, is a key factor in the long wait times patients face. The discrimination against new consultants must be ended to fill the large number of permanent vacant consultant posts and expand hospital consultant staffing which is the lowest in the EU adjusted for population.”