Kate O'Connell (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

What impact do these things have on outcomes for patients? If our figures are not ideal in comparison to other OECD countries, is there a sort of a vicious cycle at work? If we have fewer beds, more demand, shorter hospital stays and a hospitalisation rate of 139 per 1,000 while the average is 169 per 1,000, and leaving consultant practice out of it, is the combination of these things fuelling the problem?