Over 40,000 operations and appointments cancelled in first two months of the year

Muireann Duffy

Targets to reduce waiting lists for hospital procedures may never be met if high bed occupancy rates are not addressed, the Irish Hospital Consultants Association (IHCA) has warned.

The group said the State's current occupancy rate of 95 per cent is impacting efforts to tackle waiting lists, noting 41,000 hospital appointments and operations were cancelled in January and February alone.

However, it added: "This figure is an underestimation given HSE data is unavailable for a number of hospitals."

The association called on the Government to rapidly increase capacity as the number of people currently on some form of public hospital waiting list has increased by 15,500 since the start of the year, now topping 885,600.

The IHCA said long waiting lists "significantly contributed" to overcrowded emergency departments, while 10 hospitals reported bed occupancy rates in excess of 100 per cent for the first two months of the year.

These included University Hospital Galway (117 per cent), St Vincent's (111 per cent) and University Hospital Limerick (109 per cent).

"Ireland has among the highest hospital bed occupancy rates in the developed world, well above the recommended maximum occupancy rate of 80-85 per cent and 50 per cent above the EU average of 63.2 per cent," the group added.

The IHCA said the high occupancy rate and continued cancellations of appointments and operations will prevent the Government from reaching the targets set out in the Waiting List Action Plan.

"Occupancy rates at this extreme level result in regular bed shortages, increased numbers of admitted patients being treated on trolleys, higher levels of healthcare acquired infections and cancellation of appointments in addition to growing waiting lists," IHCA president Prof Robert Landers said.

He added approximately 5,000 extra hospital beds are needed by 2030 to address the issue, alongside 2,000 additional permanent consultants.

"This will require opening more than 700 beds per year over the next seven years and appointing around 300 additional permanent consultants on an annual basis.

"Unfortunately, we have not seen anywhere near this level of investment from Government," Prof Landers said.