Patient care is being threatened by the underfunding of hospital and mental health services, according to the Irish Hospital Consultants Association (IHCA)

The IHCA has called for additional resources to be allocated to acute hospitals in the 2015 Budget, to ensure the delivery of safe, quality care to patients.

In its pre-Budget submission, the IHCA says there is a pressing need to increase frontline acute hospital resources, otherwise the delivery of care to patients will be adversely affected, leading to increased delays and growing numbers of patients on waiting lists.

It says the total health budget provisions for acute hospitals and mental health services have been cut excessively during the past five years of austerity, and recent Budgets have not been based on realistic estimates of patient demand.

It is essential that increased funding for frontline services is provided in the 2015 Budget, especially as the country's economic circumstances are improving, the IHCA said.