The Health Minister's promising overcrowding in hospitals will ease in the coming days - but he's warning that a long-term fix could take at least 18 months to sort out.

Overcrowding at our hospitals is now said to be the worst in a decade - with Dublin's Beaumont pleading with the public and doctors not to use its services in a bid to ease the pressures.

Minister Leo Varadkar says while there will be some easing of the problem in the days ahead, this is not an issue that can be solved overnight:

Meanwhile, Liam Duffy, the Chief Executive Officer of Beaumont Hospital Beaumont, told Lunchtime with Jonathan Healy that over 100 patients in the hospital are "requiring home care packages or places in nursing homes”.

"There aren't beds in the community. North Dublin has one of the lowest numbers of nursing homes, both in the public and private sector so accessing these beds is quite difficult.

"People have to wait a number of weeks and months to access the beds.

"There's been very little planning in these areas in recent years."

He also spoke about the amount of procedures that have been cancelled today: