"We Have Under-Provided" "For Current Demands Much Less Demands That Are Enhanced By Something As Dramatic As Another Covid Wave"

"This is not a winter-only problem, it's with us 12 months of the year"

The HSE's 'Winter Plan' was published by the Department of Health yesterday.

The €168 million plan, provides each of Ireland's 29 emergency departments, with individual plans during the winter period.

It also includes the recruitment of 608 additional healthcare staff posts - across a range of services.

Some of the measures include increased funding to enable patients be discharged home or to a community facility as quickly as possible.

There is also more money to allow patients to be treated in the private hospital system.

Former Director General of the HSE Tony O'Brien is welcoming the plan - he says however there is no guarantee that elective surgeries won't be cancelled if it proves to be a difficult winter:

Sinn Féin's Health Spokesman, David Cullinane, says the plan is too late:

On Thursday morning's 'Kildare Today' Communications Officer for the Irish Association for Emergency Medicine & Emergency Consultant at Sligo General Hospital, Dr. Fergal Hickey discussed the current situation in Irish hospitals.

He noted "just shy of 500 patients" with Covid-19 are currently being treated in Ireland's hospital system.

Dr. Hickey added approximately 13 of those patients are being treated in ICUs.

The Emergency Consultant says he welcomes the plan "provided they follow through with it".

He noted the HSE has "under provided for the number of beds we need for current demands, much less demands that are enhanced by something as dramatic as another Covid wave".

Dr. Hickey noted "on a typical year" flu kills approximately 80 - 120 people in Ireland.

He continued by noting the country's primary problem is bed capacity.

The Emergency Consultant added in terms of the additional 600 healthcare staff to be recruited by the HSE, as per the winter plan, "clearly appointing additional consultants in emergency medicine is a good thing" "but it will not solve a capacity problem".

He noted the Minister may say there has been additional beds added to Ireland's hospital system over the past 2 years, but Dr. Hickey said, "my colleagues don't seem to see where these beds ended up"

"We haven't seen the benefit of the so-called 900 beds".

According to the Irish Nurses & Midwives Organisation, as of 8am on Wednesday morning, 527 people were waiting on trolleys, throughout Ireland's hospital system.

At the same time in Naas General, 20 people were awaiting beds.

Listen back to Dr. Fergal Hickey's interview with Eoin Beatty: