Doctors have insisted that ‘every part of the health service is now in trouble'.

In its pre-budget submission, the Irish Medical Organisation, which represents thousands of doctors nationwide, highlighted a number of failings in the area of health. These include:
-The number of acute hospital beds is down by 13% since 2007 - that is 1,631 fewer beds
-Mental health spending accounts for 6% of the HSE's budget. This is behind the recommendation in the Government's own mental heath policy, A Vision for Change, which recommends a target of 8.5%
-Taxes and charges continue to be added to medicines that make people better, while no taxes are added to unhealthy food and drinks.

The IMO also insisted that hospitals are now operating in the ‘death zone' - this refers to a situation when occupancy levels are over the point at which mortality rates rise (92.5%). Once occupancy levels reach this level, ‘deaths occur that would not otherwise occur', the organisation noted.

The IMO is calling for a five-year health plan, along with some immediate steps to halt the crisis in the health service, including:
-More beds in public hospitals, nursing homes and rehabilitation centres
-A reversal of prescription charges for medical card holders
-More money spent on mental health and addiction treatment
-Tacking the issue of highly-qualified doctors leaving Ireland for better working conditions abroad.

"The health service budget is down by about €4 billion since 2009 and every part of the health services is now in trouble. Frontline staff have shouldered incredible pressures to keep the show on the road, but they simply can't do it anymore," commented IMO president, Dr Ray Walley.

He believes that the country is ‘literally one bad week away from chaos in our hospitals and queues at our GP surgeries'.

"We don't need unrealistic talk about changing the model of healthcare or adding more pressures on overstretched resources. We need realistic talk about how to deal with the chaos that our health services have become. We need the Minister for Health to be very clear about what his priorities are and how he is allocating resources to tackle them," Dr Walley added.

Budget 2016 will be announced on October 13.