Professor Brendan Drumm, head of the Health Service Executive, said this evening that he expects negotiations with hospital consultants to get under way very soon.
He said he would be very disappointed if they don't see themselves as wanting to be part of the change process and that would mean engaging in negotiations in the very near future.
Earlier, the Irish Nurses Organisation said that 200 hospital beds that are closed must be opened as soon as possible to ease pressure on Accident and Emergency departments.
The INO General Secretary, Liam Doran, said he was very concerned with the statement by Prof Drumm today, that it could be two years before A&E overcrowding is solved.
Speaking earlier in his first public briefing as CEO of the HSE, Prof Drumm said the solution to the A&E crisis lay in developing community services and taking a long-term approach to the care of the elderly.
He added that he wanted to simplify access to healthcare in Ireland with medical staff spending less time on administration.
Prof Drumm said he wanted to reward good performance and avoid a system where services were let fall apart in order to secure extra funding.
Prof Drumm said improvements would not happen overnight but could not be left to a 10-15 year plan either.
He said he wanted to enhance the role of nurses; he said the consultants' contract was too restrictive and out of line with the needs of the health service.
The HSE chief took up the €400,000-a-year post in mid-August and is responsible for nearly 100,000 health staff and a budget of more than €11 billion.
