Barnardo’s demand action on ‘startling’ waiting lists
CHILDREN IN CORK WAITING FOR MORE THAN A YEAR FOR CRITICAL HEALTH ASSESSMENTS
“My child has been waiting five-years to access the treatments needed. He is 12 now and his mental health has drastically deteriorated. He now has anxiety and socially feels excluded”. Parent based in Cork.
THE children’s charity Barnardo’s has called for urgent action to address what its CEO, Fergus Finlay, described as the “startling” length of the waiting list for critical health assessments in Cork and Kerry.
A survey undertaken by the charity has revealed that clear regional variations exist in waiting times for health assessments and treatments – with those in the Cork area waiting “significantly” longer than those in other parts of the country for the same services.
“The results of our recent research are startling, but unfortunately they are not surprising,” said Mr Finley.
He said the HSE’s data for Child and Adolescent Mental Healths Services (CAHMS) in February, showed there were 2,520 children and young people on waiting list for an initial assessment. This represents a staggering increase of more than 44% from the same period last year.
Mr Finlay pointed out that 10% of these had been waiting for more than a year for their initial appointments – with those in Cork faring far worse.
“For instance, in the Cork/Kerry region more than 100 children had been waiting for more than 12-months for an initial assessment with CAHMS, whereas in the Clare/Limerick/Tipperary region no one had to wait more than a year,” said Mr Finlay.
He said that these trends could be seen across other areas of health provision, with 69 young people in the South Lee catchment area waiting more than two years for an initial speech and language therapy assessment. This figure is 14 times the percentage waiting nationally for the same service.
Another 165 children and young people waiting were for speech and language therapy in the North Lee catchment area - nine times that of the national figure.
Mr Finlay described these inconsistencies as “extremely worrying”.
“Where you live should not determine how quickly you get help for your child when they need it. Every day spent waiting is too long given the short time frame of accelerated physical and mental growth experienced in childhood,” said Mr Finlay.
“These delays are having unnecessary repercussions to young people’s well-being, their development and their lives,” he added.
The head of advocacy with Barnardo’s June Tinsley, said that given the huge sums invested in the health service it was hard to understand why there were such long waiting lists.
“The government committed a quarter of its entire budget (€14.5 of €58 million) to the Department of Health last year. Why are children languishing on waiting lists despite this high level of investment?”
“The health, well-being and overall development of too many children is being compromised because of our insufficient and non-responsive public health system, and the regional differences in access to necessary services,” said Ms Tinsley.
For more information visit www. barnardos.ie.