{"id":22990,"date":"2021-09-07T16:49:00","date_gmt":"2021-09-07T20:49:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/irishexaminerusa.com\/wp\/?p=22990"},"modified":"2021-09-08T14:52:35","modified_gmt":"2021-09-08T18:52:35","slug":"donnelly-warns-of-non-covid-wave-of-patients-increasing-pressure-on-health-service","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/irishexaminerusa.com\/wp\/?p=22990","title":{"rendered":"Donnelly Warns Of ‘Non-Covid Wave’ Of Patients Increasing Pressure On Health Service"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Ireland’s Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly (PA)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly has raised concerns about a \u201cnon-Covid wave\u201d of patients putting pressure on the health service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said that deferred care for cancer patients and others because of the pandemic would push up waiting lists, which are already at over 900,000.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Minister said he wants to implement a number of initiatives to tackle this, but added that they will be \u201cexpensive\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He indicated he would like to keep \u201cas much as possible\u201d of the Department of Health\u2019s \u20ac21 billion budget allocation from last year, despite warnings from the Department of Finance that borrowing will need to be reduced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mr Donnelly said: \u201cI\u2019m very concerned about this, the non-Covid wave, we\u2019re already seeing it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re seeing people presenting to emergency departments now at levels we would have seen in previous winters. They\u2019re sicker, they have deferred their care.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSome of the time they\u2019re older, they have a longer average length of stay.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He added: \u201cI think deferred cancer care and deferred cancer identification is a real issue, and there will be issues across other clinical areas.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mr Donnelly told RT\u00c9\u2019s Today With Claire Byrne he believed this was happening as a result of people not attending emergency departments or their GPs during pandemic lockdowns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Minister outlined a number of areas he would be seeking funding for in the forthcoming budget in October.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said: \u201cI\u2019ll be looking for funding for universal healthcare, for waiting lists, for the winter plan, for women\u2019s healthcare, for public health, mental health.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Asked if he was looking to keep the \u20ac21 billion allocation from last year, he replied: \u201cI\u2019d love to hang on to as much of it as possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBut really that\u2019s an ongoing conversation between health and public expenditure.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One measure to tackle the non-Covid wave of patients will be to recreate the winter plan from last year, Mr Donnelly said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLast year\u2019s winter plan was really successful, it was very expensive, but it was really successful,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe had the lowest trolley numbers on record for winter, but we only had a 12 per cent reduction in people arriving to the emergency departments. We need to do that again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe have to build up the permanent capacity in the system and we\u2019re in the middle of the biggest expansion in public healthcare capacity in a very long time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mr Donnelly said waiting lists are now over 900,000.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey were too long before Covid arrived here and they\u2019re much, much longer so we\u2019ve got to do all of these things,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mr Donnelly said these measures would be part of a move towards universal healthcare, as promised under the Sl\u00e1intecare program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said: \u201cWhat I want is a budget that funds the priorities, and the priority, the mission is universal healthcare.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe have a completely unfair system in this country where a huge number of people can\u2019t get access to care when they need it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cUltimately that\u2019s the mission, universal healthcare. When you need healthcare you get access quickly to high quality healthcare.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Minister Donnelly also said that Ireland\u2019s phased approach to reopening society is working, with the 14-day incidence rate of Covid declining to 450 per 100,000, compared with 550 a few weeks ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

More than 90 per cent of the adult population will be fully vaccinated in the coming days, while 88 per cent of those over the age of 16 are fully vaccinated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In terms of the total population, 70 per cent are fully vaccinated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Tuesday, an additional 1,470 confirmed cases of Covid-19 were reported by the Department of Health.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There were 367 patients in hospitals with the disease, a decrease of 17 on the previous day, while the number in intensive care units remains unchanged at 59.<\/p>\n

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