Union's pre-Budget submission also calls for new group to tackle health inequality
The Government should provide dedicated funding to support the reconstruction of the health service in Gaza, the Irish Medical Organisation (IMO) has said.
Launching its pre-Budget submission, the union said that more funding should be given to Ireland's International Medical Graduate Training Initiative to allow doctors from Palestine to access training here.
"The humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza has had a number of appalling effects, not least the collapse of its healthcare system," said IMO president Dr Anne Dee. "The Government must set aside funding to help reconstruct that healthcare system."
The group also called for a whole of Government response to the 'chronic problem' of health inequality in Ireland, warning of the correlation between a person's economic and social background and their health outcomes.
It said that the establishment of a cross-departmental group was critically important to address the fact that people from deprived areas have far worse health outcomes that those from affluent areas, a chronic problem driven by a range of social and economic factors and which is exacerbated by access to healthcare.
All new should be subject to a health impact assessment with resources allocated on the basis of population need, the union believes, adding that significant capital and operational investment is needed to improve access to care in our public health system.
"Successive governments have failed to sufficiently invest in both bed capacity and our medical workforce, resulting in year-round trolley and waiting list crises as we look to cater for a growing and ageing population with increasingly complex needs," Dr Dee added.
"The Government cannot continue to do the bare minimum when it comes to meeting that urgent demand."
Other recommendations outlined in it submission include:
Ensure the current and future medical workforce requirements, taking into account:
Address ongoing challenges in recruitment and retention:
Improve and enhance services in General Practice: