‘IT’S ALL ABOUT MONEY AT THE END OF THE DAY’

SICK children are neglected because hospitals don’t have enough staff or money to treat them, a children’s advocate has warned.

The rheumatology department in crumlin hospital is the only service for children with juvenile arthritis and has written to parents cancelling appointments due to ‘oversubscribed clinics’ and ‘insufficient number of staff’. Some summer appointments were rescheduled for February and March next year. There were 796 children on crumlin’s rheumatology waiting list in June, including 265 waiting longer than 18 months. An estimated 1,200 children in ireland have juvenile arthritis.

Wendy costello from advocacy group irish children’s Arthritis Network said: ‘it all comes down to money at the end of the day – there’s no funding.

She spoke to the HSE about the situation. ‘They made me feel like if they give us €1m to improve services then we have to take it off crohns or heart, but that is an awful thing to do me as a parent. How can you do that?’