Cork families must travel to Dublin for specialist dermatology care

Cork families are having to travel to Dublin to access specialist dermatology care for their children, due to their being no consultant paediatric dermatologist employed in Cork and Kerry, a Cork TD has said.

Speaking in the Dáil Fine Gael’s Colm Burke said the issues recently “came to a head when a consultant wrote to parents advising that appointments could not be given because no consultant paediatric dermatologist is employed in the Cork-Kerry region.”

He said the volume of referrals to Dublin is low but “has increased substantially”, and that overall, “there is a huge volume of work being done” in the South-West, as the number of patients referred to dermatology consultants in the region was more than 17,000 in 2024, with just 7.4 consultants covering both counties.

“Parents of children with a particular dermatology issue are having to travel to Dublin from the South-West region. This is a huge concern for parents. The first worry for them is that their child has a medical condition that requires an appointment with a consultant, and the planning that requires.”

Mary Butler, minister of state at the Department of Health, said paediatric dermatology services in the South-West are primarily provided in the South Infirmary Victoria University Hospital, Cork, which treats a wide range of conditions in infants, children and adolescents, including eczema, psoriasis, acne and rare genetic skin disorders. 

Specialist

However, some people are referred to specialist dermatology services based in Children’s Health Ireland (CHI) in Dublin.

She added that the waiting lists are “extremely high” for the CHI specialists, with 227 children nationally waiting between six and 12 months and 601 waiting up to six months.

The HSE has advised that while it currently has no plan to hire a consultant paediatric dermatologist for the South-West region this year, “the matter will be kept under consideration for the future”, she added.

Mr Burke highlighted that funding was recently provided for an additional eight paediatric dermatology consultants, but none have been appointed to locations outside of Dublin.

“When we see the efficiency of the Cork-Kerry region, we believe that a paediatric dermatologist appointed in that region would help to deal with the lists, especially as there are long waiting lists in Dublin already. The department should engage with HSE South West to see how this can be moved forward,” Ms Butler said.