The Minister for Health has urged patients not to attend emergency departments unless absolutely necessary over the coming weeks.

Simon Harris is warning that the health service is now entering an “extremely busy” period – and has urged people to access treatment in the appropriate places.

“We are going to enter a very busy period for our health services,” he said.

“It is important to keep our emergency departments for emergencies and it is important to use the appropriate location for your appropriate condition.

“So we obviously have out of hours GP services; we have our regular GP services; we have our primary care centres; we have our minor injuries units – but yes this January is going to be an extremely busy time for our health services.”

Winter Plan

The HSE announced its €30m Winter Plan in early December – with a four week period of focused action at nine facilities that have experienced the heaviest overcrowding in the past.

The sites will be subject to “intense monitoring” over the next four weeks – with a dedicated Winter Action Team assigned to each site.

Minister Harris has hailed the plan as a “new and innovative approach” that builds on the experience of previous winters – however health service workers have warned that it is 'too late and too limited.'

Overcrowding

Last year saw record numbers of patients waiting for treatment on trolleys or inwards in Irish hospitals – and experts are warning that this year could be even worse, with the potential for daily totals to hit between 700 and 1,000.

The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) has warned that the number of patients forced to wait for beds this year was the highest ever on record – passing the 100,000 mark in early December.

It said the 9,500 who had to wait in November was more than double the number it recorded in 2006 when it first started recording the figures.