The planned announcement of a new €40m winter initiative to deal with emergency department overcrowding has been delayed until Friday.
The initiative was due to be announced at this afternoon's Emergency Department Task Force meeting, attended by Minister for Health Simon Harris.
It is now due to be published on Friday after it is signed-off by Mr Harris, his Department and the HSE.
Mr Harris has sought more detail from the HSE on what will be delivered for €40m.
It will not require a fresh meeting of the Emergency Department Task Force, which met today to discuss the issue.
EDTF joint chairman Liam Doran, who is also Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation General Secretary, earlier said money for the plan had to be found and there also needed to be very specific measures and detail as to what difference they would make.
He said that details were needed on extra acute beds, home care packages and long-term beds and that all of this was contingent on extra staffing.
Mr Doran said he had no sense that the HSE or the Department of Health had any plan to attract and retain nursing and other staff.
Fianna Fáil health spokesperson Billy Kelleher has said that a crisis exists in emergency departments across the country and further investment is needed in the health service.
Speaking on RTÉ's News at One, Mr Kelleher said that overall trends are still very worrying and the number of patients on trolleys in major hospitals across the regions has substantially increased.
He said the National Treatment Purchase fund needs to be used in a much more imaginative way. He also said the issue of delayed discharges needs to be addressed.
Professor Michael O'Keefe, consultant opthamologist at the Mater Hospital in Dublin, has said that hospitals and emergency departments are totally overcrowded and 'Winter initiatives' have made no difference to date.
He told RTÉ’s Six One that capacity is one of the single biggest issues and beds are a crucial part of solving the problem.
"The public system needs to be re-rooted, made more efficient and effective; streamlined; reduce the number of people who are in charge; get rid of some of the managers; get rid of some of the management speak and get people working again. Get the basics right."
He said the public system is in contrast to the private system.
Dublin ED overcrowding drops 41% in August
New figures from the INMO have shown a significant reduction in overcrowding last month in Dublin hospitals.
Compared to August 2015, emergency department overcrowding fell 41% in Dublin last month.
However, outside Dublin overcrowding increased by 14%.
Overall nationally it was down 6% on August 2015.
Mr Doran said the two key problems with the health service is a lack of capacity and staff.
Speaking on RTÉ's Today with Sean O’Rourke, Mr Doran said the task force is focused on targeting overcrowding in emergency departments, but the downside of this is that elective and routine work can be curtailed, which leads to waiting lists.
He said there needs to be a lot of discussion before they are satisfied with what is offered and for it to have meaningful impact.
He added that trolley counts have been ongoing for 12 years and the problem will not be solved in one winter, but while this August showed a slight reduction in numbers, it is still the third worst August on record and 32% worse than two years ago.
According to the INMO figures, University Hospital Limerick had the greatest level of overcrowding last month with an overall total of 610 patients on trolleys, followed by Cork University Hospital with 473; South Tipperary General Hospital had 470, University Hospital Galway with 400 and Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda had 391 patients on trolleys.
There are 369 patients on trolleys in emergency departments or on wards today, waiting for admission to a bed, according to the INMO.
The hospital worst affected is St Vincent's with 37 patients waiting.
Yesterday, 299 patients were on trolleys or on wards nationally waiting for admission to a hospital bed, the INMO said.
The Department of Health, meanwhile, said there were 250 people waiting in emergency departments as of 8am yesterday, which it said was the same number as the same day last year.
