Almost 557,000 patients are waiting for a first hospital consultation and thousands more have joined the queue over the last two months, it has emerged.

There have been 44 deaths from flu so far this season, according to the HSE.

“If you want to do your private practice — no problem at all. But if you are a new consultant you may only do it in a private health facility,” said the minister.

Planned strike action in the new year by consultants is to go ahead, despite a move by Taoiseach Leo Varadkar to offer them up to €250,000-a-year public- only contracts.

Crumlin Children’s Hospital in Dublin is dealing with more flu cases, respiratory viruses, and the winter vomiting bug.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has promised to increase pay for health consultants if they agree to engage only in public care and avoid private practice.

Urgent action must be taken to achieve a major reduction in public hospital waiting lists, patient advocate, Stephen McMahon, has said.

There is €26m for a winter plan to deal with emergency department overcrowding in acute public hospitals, Simon Harris, the health minister, has confirmed.

Almost 68,000 people were waiting for an appointment for an inpatient or day case treatment at the end of September.

The Health Minister has described as “personalised” and “ageist” criticism levelled at him by hospital consultants that he does not have the authority or experience to deliver timely care for patients.

The accuracy of waiting list figures published by the National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTPF) has been called into question by a consultant who said the official figures were a “tenfold under-estimation” of the actual situation vis-a-vis his own specialty.

Hospital consultants have unanimously passed a vote of no confidence in Health Minister Simon Harris.

Hospital overcrowding would have been solved “a long time ago” if it was down to more beds, more staff and more money, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has told the Dáil.

The provision of just 480 acute beds over three years under the HSE's Capital Plan was greeted with extreme disappointment by hospital consultants.

Yesterday, the Government published its Capital Investment Plan for Health Services covering 2019 to 2021. At the same time, the Irish Hospital Consultant Associations was also publishing its Pre-Budget 2020 Submission, writes Martin Varley.

Health Minister Simon Harris has responded to the report on removing private care from public hospitals by saying he believes “passionately” in universal health care.

It will cost €6.6bn to remove private healthcare from public hospitals — but there is no information in an independent review group report on how this bill will be paid.

The Irish Medical Organisation says there is no evidence that capacity or waiting lists will improve by banning private patients from public hospitals.

Medical consultants are urging Health Minister Simon Harris to set a date for talks on the recruitment crisis.

The lives of critically ill patients are being put at risk as hospitals have less than half of the intensive care consultants needed.

So that’s nearly Wednesday wrapped up. Here’s some of the stories we published on irishexaminer.com today which we hope will help you make sense of it all this evening.

The Irish Hospital Consultants Association's expressing concern that 100 permanent consultant psychiatric jobs remain unfilled.