Covid impact leaves one in eight people on hospital waiting lists 

Cork University Hospital (CUH) is now planning to open additional critical care beds on-site and has appealed for staff to volunteer for shifts. Picture: Larry Cummins

One in eight people in the country are now on an outpatient waiting list as Covid-19 has severely disrupted health services.

There are now 610,000 people waiting for outpatient appointments and a further 72,000 people waiting on inpatient or day case procedures, the Oireachtas Health Committee has been told.

The number of people on hospital waiting lists has ballooned to an "unacceptable number", a senior HSE manager admitted.

The Health Committee also heard that there are now 6,000 hospital staff are out of work for Covid-related reasons.

Questioned about the impact of Covid on the delivery of other health services, Angela Fitzgerald, deputy national director, Acute Operations, said the decision to curtail non-urgent elective care last March was "appropriate" but it has had "a significant impact" on waiting lists.

Ms Fitzgerald said there had been a "very challenging number" on the outpatient list even before the pandemic but this has now increased by around 45,000 people from the 565,000 patients who were waiting at the end of 2019.

"They are people that need to be seen," she said.

The committee also heard that there are now 120 open outbreaks of Covid in hospitals, with 442 hospital-acquired cases reported last week alone,

Dr Ronan Glynn said the pressure currently being seen in hospitals and ICUs is reflective of the numbers of cases that have been growing in the community since Christmas.

Dr Ronan Glynn said the pressure currently being seen in hospitals and ICUs is reflective of the numbers of cases that have been growing in the community since Christmas. Picture: Julien Behal 

It emerged last night that one of the country's busiest hospitals has exceeded its critical care capacity.

Cork University Hospital (CUH) is now planning to open additional critical care beds on-site and has appealed for staff to volunteer for shifts.

The hospital’s CEO, Ger O’Callaghan, told staff that there is now “an urgent need” for volunteers to man 12-hour shifts over the coming week.

He said critical care experience is not necessary but familiarity with the intensive care unit environment would be welcome.

A spokesman for the South-South West Hospital Group said there has been a good response to the call from staff so far.

The latest HSE figures show that as of Thursday night, CUH was treating 158 people with Covid-19  — the highest number of Covid patients of any Irish hospital, with 16 in the critical care unit.