Hospital services cannot cope with the demands being put on them and as a result, waiting lists are increasing, according to the Irish Hospital Consultants Association (IHCA).

The IHCA, in its pre-Budget submission, has claimed that continued underfunding of the health service is threatening patient care in public hospitals.

And it has warned of the consequences further expected health cuts of €300 million next year. According to HSE figures, €3.3 billion was cut from the health budget between 2008 and 2013.

The IHCA submission says resources to treat patients have declined as a result of these severe budget cuts, against a background of increased demand for services.

It says our health spending is still below the OECD average.

The consultants' organisation says treatment waiting lists have increased by nearly 10% over the past year, despite the fact that there has been a 160,000 yearly increase in the number of patients treated over the past three years.

The IHCA says the situation could be alleviated if the current number of closed beds were opened and bed 'bottlenecks' in hospitals were dealt with.

It says waiting lists could be cut considerably if the 600-800 'delayed discharge' patients in acute hospitals at any given time could be discharged to suitable alternative care.

These are patients who are usually elderly and whose acute care has ended but who must remain in hospital because nursing home accommodation, home care or other suitable types of community care cannot be provided for them.

The IHCA in its submission, says hospital bed numbers have decreased from 3.4 to 2.4 per 1,000 population since 1996. It points out that the HSE no longer publishes monthly figures on the number of beds closed.

It says a lack of frontline resources to cater for the overall level of inpatient, day-case and outpatient demand is contributing to long treatment and outpatient waiting lists.

The submission says demand for care has increased while the available resources to treat patients have declined as a result of severe budget cuts.

The Association says it is essential that sufficient frontline acute hospital resources are provided or it will exacerbate the pressures on service levels and waiting lists, given that hospitals are already struggling to stay within existing budgets.

"If sufficient resources are not provided, an increased number of patients may not be treated within a medically appropriate timeframe."

The IHCA says of particular concern is that hospitals are imposing rolling theatre closures as part of their cost containment measures,which is worsening waiting lists

In addition, it says, there is still an insufficient number of consultants in the system and there are difficulties in recruiting new consultants, mainly due to recent pay cuts.

The IHCA has called for hospital budgets to be based on realistic estimates of demand, taking account of increasing population pressures and the reduction in private health insurance coverage.

It says addressing delayed discharged an reopening closed beds will alleviate waiting lists.

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