Health

Donnelly raised concerns with HSE in summer about hospital overcrowding

Minister for Health told HSE to ‘revisit’ its winter plans and detail the gaps in areas including staffing levels

Stephen Donnelly, Minister for Health, clashed with senior medics about his request that they work weekends to ease overcrowding. Picture: Fergal Phillips

Stephen Donnelly raised concerns with the HSE in recent months about the quality of the winter plans of several hospitals, and queried the number of consultants working at weekends, as his department warned that significant surges in hospitalisations were likely.

In a series of letters sent between May and July, the Minister for Health urged the executive of the HSE to expedite an agreed plan to fill emergency department consultant and nursing roles.

In one ...