Two organisations that represent thousands of healthcare workers have warned the Oireachtas Health Committee that hospital overcrowding poses a serious danger to patients.

Both the Irish Medical Organisation (IMO) and the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) have expressed serious concern about the current situation.

The IMO warned that the scale of hospital overcrowding represents “a persistent and grave danger to patients which cannot be ignored”.

It said that record hospital waiting lists are a direct result of the failure by successive governments to invest in bed capacity, infrastructure and the medical workforce to meet the needs of a growing and ageing population.

“When the present Taoiseach was Minister for Health over 20 years ago, the bed capacity need was identified at 5,000 more beds. Since that time, there has been little positive growth in capacity, yet our population has grown by more than a million people and we are now at a point of frightening waiting lists, an inability to deliver timely care and too few doctors in the system,” commented ED consultant and member of the IMO Consultant Committee, Dr Mick Molloy.

The IMO pointed out that Ireland compares extremely poorly to its international counterparts with regard to beds per population and bed occupancy rates, and this is only exacerbated by the crisis in the medical workforce. Currently, 20% of consultant posts nationwide are unfilled.

Dr Molloy told the Oireachtas committee that while Covid-19 had exposed the fragility of the health service, it did not cause the overcrowding crisis.

This was echoed by the INMO, which said that ED overcrowding has not been caused by the pandemic, but is endemic in the public health system. It told the committee that as of March 8, over 21,500 patients have already been on hospital trolleys so far this year – a jump of 170% when compared to the same period in 2021.

“We know that if a patient is on a trolley for more than five hours it can have a significant knock-on impact on their health and indeed their mortality. State agencies such as the Department of Health, HIQA and the HSE need to step up to their responsibilities and take decisive action. It is extremely disappointing that the HSE has not prioritised convening the Emergency Department Taskforce despite numerous requests,” commented INMO general secretary, Phil Ní Sheaghdha.

She said that nurses and midwives are currently under severe pressure as they are dealing with huge numbers of both Covid and non-Covid patients presenting at EDs at a time when there is inadequate staffing.

“Staff and patients deserve better than the persistent and chronic overcrowding we are seeing in Irish hospitals on a daily basis. Government must take note of the voices from the frontline. They are sounding the alarm and are pointing to clinical risk, omissions of care, inhumane environments for care provision, long uncomfortable waiting time to be seen and then a longer time to be admitted” Ms Ní Sheaghdha added.