29,000 waiting for respiratory care — but no national policy in place

Prof. Eddie Moloney, consultant respiratory physician and president of the Irish Thoracic Society.

Respiratory illnesses are the single largest cause of hospital admissions in Ireland, but there is no national policy dedicated to helping these patients, the Irish Thoracic Society has warned.

Almost 29,000 people were waiting to see a consultant about respiratory illnesses in July, with one in five waiting more than a year. The Irish Thoracic Society said this was a higher proportion than across most other specialties.

The need for timely access to care is urgent, the society added, with respiratory illness linked to almost one in five deaths in Ireland in 2024.

It said the proportion was higher than in eight other EU countries, and estimated the annual economic cost of respiratory disease at €15.1bn.

It said lung cancer was the biggest cancer killer, responsible for one in five cancer deaths. 

However, there is no national screening programme to help make early diagnosis and give people a better chance of living, it pointed out.

Asthma deaths reached 94 in 2024, the highest annual figure recorded since 2016, according to the society.

The organisation also said most of the estimated 380,000 people living with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) were unaware they have the condition.

It pointed to medical card data showing increased use of medicines prescribed for poorly controlled asthma and COPD symptoms.

Respiratory consultant numbers would need to grow by 25% to meet demand now and further into the future, it was estimated, while patients in smaller hospitals were more affected due to recruitment issues.

The society also raised alarm about risks from air pollution, smoking tobacco and vapes, as well as new risks from nicotine products.

All respiratory illnesses together account for one in five deaths in Ireland, the Irish Thoracic Society said in a report released on Tuesday ahead of World Lung Day.

It also warned of long waits for the National Pulmonary Hypertension Unit.

Irish Thoracic Society president Eddie Moloney, a consultant respiratory physician, said: “This report is invaluable in setting out in detail the current status of a range of lung conditions in Ireland."

The World Health Assembly last year advised countries including Ireland to have integrated policies on lung health.

“We have had a national cancer strategy, yet despite respiratory disease being one of the top causes of mortality in our country, we have yet to see the development of a national respiratory strategy,” said Prof Moloney.

“The Irish Thoracic Society is once again calling on Government for three things: A national respiratory strategy; an expert steering group; and an implementation plan with multi-annual funding to deliver on it.” 

Prof Moloney said the society had first called for a dedicated taskforce in 2018, but without success.

Irish Thoracic Society chief executive Orla Veale called the data stark, but said there had been progress in areas including use of the RSV vaccine for newborns.

The problem is these isolated programmes or projects were not connected under a national strategy, she cautioned.