The Government needs to invest more than €5 billion in additional beds, equipment and infrastructure as there is now clear evidence acute hospitals are “beginning to fail”, senior doctors have warned. In a submission to the Department of Health, the Irish Hospital Consultants Association (IHCA) said the system was experiencing ever-increasing waiting lists for essential surgery while there had been a “collapse” in the elective or non-urgent output in acute hospitals. It warned key targets in relation to cancer care were also now being missed. The submission, sent last Friday, said the waiting time prior to the commencement of chemotherapy...