Overcrowding and understaffing are causing “avoidable fatalities” and poor health outcomes, the Irish Medical Organisation (IMO) has warned.

According to the IMO’s incoming president, Dr John Cannon, such outcomes are now “inevitable” given the many pressures that health services currently face.

He said that a capacity crisis “now plagues all aspects of the health service, including hospitals, general practice and community services”.

“Tragically, it is inevitable that this crisis is contributing to increased avoidable mortality because patients are being treated in overcrowded hospitals or treatment is being delayed in primary or secondary care settings as capacity cannot meet patient need,” Dr Cannon commented.

He insisted that this capacity crisis is compounded by the recruitment and retention crisis which has resulted in the HSE being unable to fill many positions, including GP and consultant posts.

“There is a shortage of doctors globally and we are simply not doing enough to either retain our workforce or to attract much needed doctors back to Ireland,” Dr Cannon noted.

He pointed out that at least 10% of the population are currently unable to sign up with a GP because their patient lists are already full. Meanwhile, too few consultants have resulted in longer waiting lists, while too few beds have led to overcrowding in emergency departments and difficulty accessing hospitals beds.

Dr Cannon warned that the capacity crisis in the health service is “real and dangerous” and he called on the government to take action urgently.

He made his comments ahead of the IMO’s AGM which is taking place in Killarney from April 13-15.