A former acting hospital CEO has said there is too much focus on waiting lists.
Patrick Plunkett is a Clinical Professor of Emergency Medicine at Trinity College and former acting CEO of St James' Hospital in Dublin.
Professor Plunkett thinks the workload facing frontline staff in hospitals is contributing to longer waiting lists and believes more funding is needed to make up for years of under-investment.
He says the amount of work being done is huge and should not be overlooked.
"There's a lot of focus on waiting lists; I've long said we shouldn't focus on waiting lists because they will always be there," he said.
"What we should focus on is the amount of work that's being done in the health service and that has increased year on year on year despite the tight budgets."
"That's why there's overrun on the budget because the amount of work being done is huge, and increasing," he said.
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