Plans to increase the number of elective procedures performed outside Dublin will exacerbate the "crisis in regional A&E departments", doctors have warned.
The predictions come as Letterkenny hospital yesterday cancelled all elective procedures as it had 35 patients waiting on trolleys in its A&E - its highest to date.
Local TD Dinny McGinley described the situation as a "horrendous crisis" and "the worst possible start to the new year".
He said plans announced by the Minister for Health on Tuesday, to cut the number of elective procedures carried out on non-Dublin patients in Dublin hospitals in an effort to ease pressure on Dublin A&Es, were unworkable unless significant new resources were put into regional hospitals.
Dr Seán Murphy, a consultant physician at Mullingar General Hospital, described Mary Harney's announcement as a "rabbit out of a hat". He said: "I presume she was talking to the Dublin hospitals when she was coming up with this plan but it remains totally unclear whether she talked to their country cousins. It remains unclear whether any thought has gone into the impact on regional hospitals or whether it has been teased out how much extra resources regional hospitals will need."
He said while Mullingar did not have a history of large numbers of people on trolleys, it could not cope with a substantial increase in patients without additional resources.
In Wexford General Hospital, which recorded 17 people waiting on trolleys in A&E yesterday, consultant surgeon Ken Mealy described as naive plans to increase the number of elective procedures outside Dublin if there was no increase in staff, beds and theatres outside Dublin.
While regional hospitals should be able to perform much elective surgery "quite adequately," Wexford General was "up to its eyes" in terms of capacity.
A HSE spokesman said only regional hospitals which had the capacity to take on additional work would be expected to do so.
