07/12/2025
Surge of demand for flu-related hospitalisation highlights beds crisis in public hospital system
“Irish acute hospitals run at 97% to 110% occupancy due to inadequate capacity in the system to address the health care needs of our population.
This allows for little or no capacity to deal with any increase in workload. Most Irish acute hospitals, even before the influenza season started, were utilising their surge capacity i.e. sitting in-patients in chairs, managing in-patients on trolleys in day wards, in endoscopy suites, in cardiology day wards, as extra patients on wards and on the corridors of Emergency Departments and wards.
The rise in patient attendances to Emergency Departments and the associated increased numbers requiring admission to hospital leads to real challenges in providing safe care.”
Dr Peadar Gilligan, IMO Consultant Committee, Consultant in Emergency Medicine in Beaumont Hospital
