Pressure on health service could see hospitals short 3,000 beds by end of decade

IHCA president Prof Rob Landers said while the Government planned to open 261 acute beds in 2023, only 162 were additional beds. Picture: ihca.ie

Ireland’s overstretched public health service could be short a staggering 3,000 hospital beds by the end of the decade, causing waiting lists to spiral, an expert has warned.

Population growth and increased demand for care are set to heap pressure on the already creaking health service, a researcher with the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) said, with hospitals facing an immediate deficit of 1,000 inpatient beds, and an additional requirement for 300 hospital beds each year to address that growth and increased demand.

But the ESRI's Brendan Walsh said the Irish health system is just unable to keep up, and said the State’s lack of planning for sufficient hospital capacity means public hospitals are unlikely to be able to provide care to a staggering 73,900 additional people who will be on waiting lists by the end of the year.

“We are now entering a territory where we’re going to have issues regarding strains in the hospital sector and bed deficits for years to come," he warned.

The comments are made in a new video which has been published today as part of the Irish Hospital Consultants Association’s (IHCA) 'Care Can’t Wait' campaign.

National Treatment Purchase Fund figures show that 883,300 people were on some form of hospital waiting list at the end of October, which indicates that more patients are being added to the lists than are being taken off, as demand increases against the backdrop of insufficient hospital capacity.

Mr Walsh said capacity, workforce and health system changes have not been able to keep up.

“We have seen quite a lot of investment in recent years in beds, however we’re starting from a very low base and the level of investment has slowed down,” he said.

We must act quickly and move toward community care where appropriate, but we must also understand that there are deficits in our hospital system and try to fill those deficits as quickly as possible.

IHCA President prof Rob Landers said while the Government planned to open 261 acute beds in 2023, only 162 were additional beds.

“This is less than provided for in the National Development Plan, which averages 260 additional beds per annum," he said.

“It is also far less than the ESRI recommendation."

He also said it is "deeply regrettable" that the budget did not provide for the 1,500 rapid-build additional hospital beds promised for 2023 and 2024, or to progress the four elective hospitals included in the 2017 Sláintecare plan.