The Health Service Executive (HSE) has dismissed claims that the recommendations of its A&E taskforce are unrealistic and unachievable.
Angela Fitzpatrick, chairwoman of the HSE's Accident and Emergency Taskforce, said this morning that the recommendation that patients be discharged from A&E or admitted to a bed within six hours was a realistic target for 2007.
However, speaking on RTÉ radio this morning, she admitted that it was not something that could be achieved overnight.
"The ultimate target for waiting time is six hours, but we accept that is not something we can do today to be fair to hospitals, because there are a number of things we have to work with hospitals to deliver on," she said.
The Irish Nurses' Organisation (INO) said earlier that the six-hour target was not achievable at present, given the current infrastructure.
However, Ms Fitzpatrick said the HSE was bringing in 600 more long-stay beds and introducing a number of "hospital avoidance" measures in an effort to free up A&E departments.
This would include providing city-wide rapid access services in Dublin for patients suffering from chronic diseases.
"A lot of people present to hospital because they don't have an alternative," added Ms Fitzpatrick.
In a statement this afternoon, the HSE said it was looking at implementing a 12-hour target from the time of decision to admit for the first few months of 2007.
"The number of hospitals that are experiencing difficulties in their A&Es has reduced considerably and is now confined to a relatively small cluster of hospitals," it said.
Fine Gael Health spokesperson, Dr Liam Twomey, said he was greatly concerned by this decision, and claimed it seemed more of an effort to "cosmetically reduce the numbers" rather than aiming to make a real difference to patients.
"It is impossible to get a true picture of the problems in A&E unless waiting times are assessed from the time a patient presents and it is impossible to effectively tackle those problems without this accurate information," he said.
"The HSE's immediate target of a 12-hour wait for patients from the time of decision to admit will therefore make precious little real difference to the current situation and, worryingly, seems to be an attempt to cosmetically reduce waiting times rather than make a real difference to patients. Furthermore it is dismissive of the experience of patients during the period they are awaiting assessment in A&E and this should not be so."
Labour spokewoman on Health, Liz McManus, welcomed the HSE's A&E report and said it was important that the study and report's recommendations were published quickly.
"Despite protestations from Minister Harney that the situation is under control, this report indicates that our A&E services are still in crisis and that significant measures are now required to deal with the crisis once and for all," she said.
"For instance, according to the INO 260 patients were on trolleys yesterday. That's simply unacceptable," she added. However, she also acknowledged that the report had some flaws.
Sinn Féin spokesman on Health Caoimhghín Ó Caolain called on Minister for Health Mary Harney to deliver a credible plan that would provide extra beds needed to ease A&E overcrowding.
