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Hospital bed capacity review expected before the end of the month

Hospital bed capacity review expected before the end of the month

Health Minister Simon Harris plans to bring a review of bed capacity to Government before the end of the month.

He also plans to outline a date for GP talks in the next two weeks.

It comes amidst overcrowding in Emergency Departments and the growing flu problem.

Health officials are due to give an update on the situation later today, while the INMO said 551 people were wating on hospital trollies yesterday

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That figure is not likely to fall during the current flu season.

Minister Harris said he is committed to finding solutions.

"I'm very conscious that our health service is still going through an extraordinarily difficult time but as I've said consistently through this period of time: while I'm frustrated at what is going, I want to put all my energies into making sure we do break that cycle," he said.

"I think we have spent the last year - cross parties - working on the building blocks. We now know what they are and I also want to look at interim plans to get additional capacity into the system as soon as possible."

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