Irish Medical Organisation has called on the Government to increase health spending to reflect higher tax revenues coming into the Exchequer.
Dr Christine O'Malley IMO president said: "Last year, the Minister for Finance announced that public health spending would match inflation at 6 per cent. However, health service inflation is approximately 9 per cent."
"Health service inflation is a measure of increasing complexity in our health service and requires far greater levels of funding", she said. The organisation is also concerned at the shortage of beds in the health system.
"Until the Government acknowledges, addresses and replaces the acute beds removed from the system during the '80s, the A&E crisis will continue to be a national emergency and patients will remain on trolleys in corridors", said Dr O'Malley.
The IMO wants the number of public acute in-patient hospital beds to rise from 12,455 to 15,000
Dr Martin Daly, chairman of the IMO GP committee, expressed his annoyance at the Government for failing to deliver on the 200,000 full medical cards promised in 2002.
Dr Daly said income thresholds for qualification have not kept pace with rising incomes or welfare payments resulting in many people being excluded from the service.
"As of June 2006 only 18,000 cards had been issued of the proposed 200,000. When the prohibitive costs associated with medicines are taken into account, it is plain to see that the GP visit only card scheme has had little impact on the delivery of primary services to the most vulnerable in our society," he said.
The IMO once again has taken a strong stance on care of the older citizen. The Organisation believes there are several problems which require urgent funding.
Dr. O'Malley said: "It has been commented in the past that older people are clogging up the acute care system. However, it is the older people who carry the burden of illness and disability and are most in need of acute hospital admission. The IMO
believes that the state must make good the deficit in acute hospital bed capacity. This is particularly relevant to older persons who are proportionately the largest and most needy group of service users."
The IMO also wants funding provided establish a nursing home inspectorate for public and private sector providers. "The delay in providing an independent inspectorate is worrying", Dr O'Malley said.