A new report tonight recommended the setting up of acute medical units to relieve the pressure on Accident and Emergency Departments.
The units would provide rapid diagnosis and treatment of patients whose lives were at risk.
Comhairle na nOspidéal, the statutory body which oversees the appointment of qualified medical staff in hospitals, said providing more hospital beds would not solve all the problems facing hospitals, unless the acute medical units were delivered as well.
The units would be headed by a consultant physician and would have priority access to hospital beds and medical facilities.
The report said: "The number of consultant physicians working in the AMU will vary from unit to unit depending on the hospital's workload, size, consultant staffing and other local circumstances."