Consultants hear it could take 15 years to clear current waiting lists

Professor Alan Irvine, President, Irish Hospital Consultants Association.

It could take 15 years to clear the current hospital waiting lists unless funding is urgently provided to help patients, the Irish Hospital Consultants Association has said.

Hospital waiting lists have now reached over 907,000 across all specialities, including over 100,000 children waiting to be seen, the IHCA said. This is despite over 6m patients being treated last year as the growing population increases pressure on the system.

IHCA president Professor Alan Irvine said: “Motivation to fix the problems in Ireland’s health system is waning, at a time when energy should be firmly behind implementing the solutions, which frontline hospital staff have repeatedly called for over the years.”

Analysis, presented during a media briefing on Monday, shows numbers of patients on waiting lists rising in parallel with consultant vacancies rising.

The IHCA linked this to a decision in 2012 to reduce salaries for newly-hired consultants compared to their colleagues, leading to what Prof Irvine called a toxic work environment.

There are currently 882 permanent posts unfilled or filled by a locum temporary doctor, the IHCA analysis shows. This includes 108 non-specialist consultants working in roles they are not fully qualified for according to the registration requirements.

IHCA president Professor Alan Irvine: 'Motivation to fix the problems in Ireland’s health system is waning, at a time when energy should be firmly behind implementing the solutions, which frontline hospital staff have repeatedly called for over the years.' Picture: Gareth Chaney/Collins

They warned the extreme shortage of hospital consultants and beds mean rising patient waiting lists would continue unchecked. 

“We know what the problems are and we know what is required to fix them, we can indeed fix them. But we need the beds and the consultants to treat the patients in a timely manner,” Prof Irvine said.

“There is nothing new here. We all know what is necessary. These core elements have been committed to in successive plans, budgets and ministerial promises, but not delivered. The stressful, overstretched business-as-usual approach is not an option.” 

He pointed to risks to patients if they are having an operation and the consultant in charge is not a specialist, or if the anaesthetist is not a specialist.

The IHCA estimates an additional 5,000 beds are needed by 2030 to address these shortfalls.

Shortages of nurses and specialist nurses, as well as the impact of hospital buildings filled to capacity are also leading to delays in care for patients, the IHCA said.

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One surgical oncologist did not have access to an operating list or outpatient clinic for almost a year, it found. Another hospital saw access to operating theatres reduced to 50% of the pre-pandemic levels and this has not yet been restored.

It is calling on the Government to now consider a sustainable programme of investment, rather than short-term waiting list action plans, which Prof Irvine said have been shown not to provide real solutions for patients.

“Give us the essential resources, the capacity and the consultants to treat our patients on time,” he said.