The Irish Hospital Consultants Association says the health system has to be able to do more than 'just Covid'.
It's issued a warning to the Government after new figures show another 40,600 people added to hospital waiting lists in past year.
Association President Professor Alan Irvine says urgent action is needed to address public hospital capacity deficits and Consultant vacancies:
"Our public health system has been designed to be too small for the capacity that's needed. That predates COVID. You know, none of these issues are new because of Covid. Covid has made everything worse but these issues all predate Covid and it simply comes down to a lack of number of hospital beds, a lack of professionals in it."
