Number of Cork children awaiting health assessments and treatment 'shameful', says Cork councillor 

Almost 18,400 children in Cork were waiting for assessments or treatment across a range of areas including audiology, psychology, and physiotherapy in July, latest figures show.

The figures, provided in response to a Dáil question by Cork East Labour TD Seán Sherlock, have been described as “shameful” and immediate action was urged to address delays.

Assessments

There were 3,172 children in the Cork health areas in the Cork/Kerry region on the waiting list for first-time occupational therapy assessments. 

The figures cover the four Cork health areas in CHO4 including South Lee, North Lee, North Cork, and West Cork.

The figures show there were 2,257 children aged up to 17 years and 11 months, awaiting audiology treatment in Cork — all in the South Lee area, with 311 children aged up to four, and 280 aged between five and 17 waiting for more than 12 months to be seen.

In dietetics, there were 1,022 children awaiting treatment in the four Cork areas, a figure which includes 72 children under the age of four, and 113 aged five to 17 years and 11 months who had been waiting for treatment for more than a year.

There was also a large number of children in the Cork health areas waiting for ophthalmology treatment — a total of 1,355 were waiting across the four Cork areas.

Waiting more than 12 months

The figures also show that there were 767 children in the Cork health areas on the physiotherapy waiting list, with 227 of these waiting for more than 12 months.

In podiatry, there were three Cork children awaiting treatment, two of which are waiting for more than a year.

The preliminary figures show 4,728 children awaiting psychology treatment across Cork, a figure which includes 1,199 children aged five to 17 years in South Lee who were waiting for more than 12 months. The corresponding figure in North Lee was 1,015, who are on the waiting list longer than a year.

The health tables also reveal that there were 1,558 children in Cork waiting for a first-time speech and language assessment.

A total of 1,612 children were waiting for initial speech and language therapy, while 1,906 are waiting for further intervention. When Kerry is also included in the region, more than 22,400 children were waiting on treatment across the range of services.

Regret

In a response to a query from The Echo, Cork/Kerry Community Healthcare expressed regret over the waiting times for children’s primary care services and said challenges were being faced in “providing timely access due to this significant increase in the number of referrals, as well as staffing challenges”.

“We are working hard to respond as the demand for the service continues to grow,” a CKCH spokesperson said in a statement.

“Unfortunately, the waiting list continues to grow due to an increase in referrals and staffing challenges. Given the recruitment challenges, all possible options continue to be explored in order to increase staff numbers.”

The figures were supplied to Cork South Central Labour general election candidate Laura Harmon following the parliamentary question. 

She described the number of children awaiting treatment as “shameful”.

Ms Harmon has called for the Government to intervene as a matter of urgency.

“From the lack of therapy being offered to families awaiting a first-time intervention and the retention and recruitment chaos that frontline workers are dealing with on a daily basis, it is now time for the Government to step in at the highest level,” she said.