Doctors call for 3,000 more acute beds
The Irish Medical Organisation (IMO) wants the number of acute beds increased by around 3,000 to 15,000 and an immediate increase in nursing home subvention and more home care packages.
In its pre-Budget submission, the organisation points out that a third of the acute hospital beds have been removed since 1980 while health professionals had managed to increase efficiency and productivity.
The IMO also says the provision of beds for care of the elderly has declined dramatically a situation that has exacerbated the A&E crisis.
IMO vice president Christine O'Malley yesterday said that in 1968, 5.2% of elderly people over 65 years were in both public and private institutional care. In 2001 it was 5.1%.
"There are fewer elderly people in institutional care in the country at the moment. But the difference is that back in 1968, 80% were provided by the State," she said.
"Now more than half are in nursing homes so families are put to the pin of their collar trying to pay for their old folk to go into nursing homes."
The IMO has also claimed that the health service has neglected to match public nursing home care beds with the growth of the population in large cities.
They are also angry that after four years, only €22 million has been spent on the €1.3 billion 10-year Primary Care Strategy.
IMO GP Committee chairman Martin Daly said they were ready to engage with the Government when the money was provided and there was a real commitment to developing primary care.
"What we do fear is the privatisation of general practice where GPs are disengaged from ownership of their own practices, and that has proved to be a disaster in many other jurisdictions, such as Australia, Canada, the US and in parts of Europe."
The IMO is also looking for a €2 increase on packets of 20 cigarettes and a tax increase on all alcohol products.
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