Anger as 5k patients wait over year for primary care
MORE than 5,000 patients have waited over a year for essential services in the primary care sector.
Figures provided to Fianna Fail by the HSE reveal significant waiting lists and delays for the vital services.
The party’s primary care spokesman John Brassil said: “While hospital waiting lists and the waiting times for services such as CAMHS command a lot of attention, there are other areas where people are also enduring long waits.
“There are some 33,279 people on waiting lists across three specialities in primary care, with more than 5,000 waiting over a year.
“Dietetics is an important area. Dietitians apply their knowledge of food, nutrition and related disciplines to promote health and contribute to the management of disease.
“However, at the end of June there were 14,728 people waiting to see a dietician, with 2,944 waiting for more than a year – that’s a fifth of the list.
“Similarly, more than 14,000 people are on a list to see an audiologist – 1,520 of those waiting have being doing so for more than a year.
“Almost 4,500 people are waiting for a podiatry appointment – more than half of them aged over 65.”