New measures are to be introduced to tackle overcrowding in hospital emergency departments, especially over the coming Christmas and New Year holiday period.
The measures were agreed by the Emergency Department Implementation Group at a meeting yesterday.
The new framework is designed to support hospital groups and community health organisations in developing plans to adequately manage capacity at a time of high demand.
The National Director of Acute Hospitals said the objective was that no patient should have to wait more than nine hours for a full patient experience time, either from time of entering hospital to admission or discharge.
Speaking on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, Liam Woods said the purpose of the policy is that there will be a standard approach across all hospitals.
He said that there is currently investment in beds to support hospitals and emergency departments.
Mr Woods said that management of the time target for patients and the flow of patients through the hospital will be the main challenges.
Meanwhile, the Irish Medical Organisation has warned that any attempt to impose a "one-size-fits-all" approach to the crisis will not succeed.
The organisation’s President Dr Ray Walley said "any policy response must be flexible enough to deal with local issues and not be constrained by unworkable nationally imposed solutions".
He said setting a target of a nine-hour maximum waiting time for patients is not realistic, and that setting time limits was irrelevant if additional beds were not made available.
The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation said the new policy is now being sent out throughout the healthcare system and it is now up to HSE management to operate it on a 24/7 basis.
Last night, INMO General Secretary Liam Doran said: "The agreed policy issued today, if operated continuously and consistently, has the real potential to reduce current levels of overcrowding.
"The INMO will engage immediately, with all hospital managements, to confirm the universal application, of this revised policy, in the interests of all patients and frontline nursing staff."
