Prof Seamus O'Reilly says a taskforce should be set up to identify how hospitals could be future-proofed in the wake of the pandemic.
Services were curtailed when the pandemic broke out, with around one million people now waiting for an appointment with a consultant.
The Irish Hospital Consultants Association warned in September last year that it could take 14 years to get waiting lists under control unless immediate action is taken.
Speaking to RedFM News, Prof Seamus O'Reilly outlines how a taskforce could help:
"Rapidly seeing where the deficits lie in the system, identify ways in which our hospitals need to change, be expanded, accommodation changed, potentially demolished and rebuilt. We've a million people on a waiting list to see a consultant, so those patients need to be seen in environments where they can be looked after quickly, in an infection controlled safe manner in an environment where their dignity is respected as well. There's no point in appointing people to hospitals to deal with the waiting list when there isn't the infrastructure like theatre space, outpatient space, office space for them to function."
