Patients are dying unnecessarily by waiting on trolleys in overcrowded Accident & Emergency wards, it was claimed today.
The Irish Hospital Consultants Association (IHCA) told the Oireachtas Health Committee that pressure on A&E units could be causing up to 30 per cent additional mortality.
It demanded 3,000 extra beds in the state's hospitals to cope with the country's growing population.
Dr Gerry Lane, a consultant in emergency medicine in Letterkenny General Hospital, said Australian research showed that overcrowded A&E wards increased mortality rates by 30 per cent.
"Patients in hospitals on overcrowded days have 30 per cent additional mortality compared to patients who come in on non-overcrowded days," he claimed.
Dr Lane, who is a member of the Health Service Executive's new A&E Taskforce cited research conducted in Perth which showed that overcrowded A&E conditions were directly linked to 100 deaths in its 1.4 million population.
In the Australian capital, Canberra, the number of A&E-related deaths was 13 over a single year — equivalent to the number of road fatalities in the city which Dr Lane said was 'absolutely scary'.
IHCA president Dr Josh Keaveney denied claims that consultants were lazy or overpaid. "The vast majority of consultants in this country work extremely hard and give very good value for money."
The Beaumont Hospital consultant added: "I'm paid €140,000 a year. I'm not highly paid for my expertise. The health service gets very good value from me," he explained.
PA