Over 5,400 Cork people on occupational therapy primary care waiting list

A total of 5,434 people were awaiting a primary care occupational therapy appointment in Cork as of the end of June, with 1,290 of these waiting more than a year, new HSE data has shown.

As a result, a local Sinn Féin TD has called for primary care centres in the city to be delivered faster.

Data provided to Cork North Central TD Thomas Gould shows that there are 1,443 people waiting six to 12 months, 1,100 waiting three to six months, and 1,610 waiting less than three months to be seen.

Of the total, 2,208 people are waiting to be seen in the South Lee area, 1,641 in North Lee, 910 in North Cork and 675 in West Cork.

A HSE spokesperson told Mr Gould: “I acknowledge that the above wait times for services are less than desirable, and I apologise for same.

“This is as a consequence of a number of factors, including a growth in demand for services and also the implications of deficits in staffing resources. Efforts to increase resources throughout and reduce waiting times are indeed our top priority.

“We are actively working on strategies to address resources allocation, validation of waiting lists, streamlining processes and optimising existing workloads, ultimately working towards providing timely access for all to services.

“This is inclusive of approval of vacant/replacement posts for which recruitment is now ongoing and it is hoped that the increased resources will impact these waiting times.”

Mr Gould said that delivering more primary care services would help to address these long waiting lists, telling The Echo: “It is no surprise that these waiting lists are so long when we consider just how many primary care centres are delayed or have not been delivered across Cork. The reality is that the capacity just isn’t there to meet the demand.

“We have no primary care centres in Blarney, Glanmire, and Ballyvolane. These have been promised for far too long and, because of the HSE’s flawed delivery model, they have been delayed multiple times. This is the direct result of those delays.”

He added: “For the over 1,200 people waiting longer than a year for occupational therapy, what were small issues have likely become huge problems. Their daily lives are impacted and what could have been a quick resolution will now likely require far more intervention.

“Every single week, we are seeing unacceptable waiting lists for basic health services across Cork. The government has no plan to fix this. They are jumping from crisis to crisis while people are left on waiting lists. It is completely unacceptable.”