Fórsa has warned that the mounting pressure on acute hospitals and waiting list times will continue to increase unless urgent investment in staffing and infrastructure in undertaken.

In response to the media reports and concerning rise of figures of patients waiting to access urgent services, the union said immediate resources needed to be put into place to address the overcrowding issue.

Fórsa said it was aware a small number of patients were receiving care due to the HSE securing additional private bed access, but that number “was simply not enough.”

Head of Fórsa’s health and welfare division Ashley Connelly said the union had received reports of staff having to pick up extra shifts to cope with the demand.

“I think its very important to highlight that these are frontline staff, who are now having to deal with this extra responsibility outside of their job duties, in addition to dealing with the continual strains of Covid and the flu both within their staff due to contact with patients, and the rising number of hospital admissions because of the combined pressure.

“They cannot fill those absences fast enough because there is no funding to get more staff,” said Ashley.

“People’s lives are literally on the line. This is not fair to the patients waiting to receive treatment and it is not fair to the health staff doing the best they can with the limited resources they have.

"We will continue to see these problems across the health service unless management realises the precariousness of the situation and commits to a genuine robust discussion with stakeholders,” she added.

“Every name added to the waiting lists and every person left on a trolley is one too many. Immediate relief, while extremely necessary, is not a permanent fix.

"Our members are doing the absolute best they can to cope with the pressure, but without adequate resourcing they will reach a breaking point soon,” she warned.

Fórsa officials have been pressing to meet management and get urgent clarity to address the issue.