Colm Burke (Cork North Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses very much for the presentation. I will start with some figures provided by the Secretary General of the Department of Health the previous time he appeared before the committee. He said there had been a 36% increase in hospital staff in recent years but that the number of patients going through hospitals had only increased by between 10% and 20% - the figure varies from hospital to hospital. Do those figures add up in real terms? I fully understand that a hospital may be restricted, for instance, in that it may not have the infrastructure to deal with increased numbers. However, the Secretary General raised the issue of a 36% increase in staff. Mr. Gloster might remember that we have gone from 103,000 whole-time equivalents in December 2014. The last figure I got was 143,000 whole-time equivalents, which is an increase of 40%. What is Mr. Gloster's view on the Secretary General's comment that there has been an increase of only 10% in the turnover of patients in real terms? That refers to procedures and attendance.