Kathleen Funchion warns of long waits for children's therapies
Kathleen Funchion spoke on 28 Sep 2021 about urgent delays in children's healthcare and waiting lists. She emphasised that 106,000 children are waiting for assessment, treatment or diagnostic scans and urged action on therapy provision and developmental checks.
Waiting list scale
She highlighted that 106,000 children are waiting for an assessment, treatment or diagnostic scan in a public hospital, and said the largest waiting lists are in ear, nose and throat and general paediatrics.
Therapies and early intervention
Funchion said therapies are a major difficulty, citing an example from her constituency of someone waiting three years for speech and language. She stressed that occupational therapy, speech and language and other therapies must be followed through because early intervention is key.
Service disruptions
She noted that developmental checks and many routine appointments have been pushed out, particularly due to COVID and the cyber attack, and reflected the frustration of families and clinicians as children are often not seen until they are adults.
Local home care case
Funchion raised a specific case for Minister Butler involving a patient in a Ballyragget nursing home in Kilkenny who has been approved for home care but cannot find a carer and has remained in residential care since February despite family wishes.
Acknowledgements and calls
She acknowledged the minister's work on assessments, welcomed a focus on therapies, and commended her colleague Deputy Cullinan for work on these issues.
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I want to just focus my short time in relation to children as the children's spokesperson and we know that there are 106,000 children waiting for an assessment, treatment or diagnostic scan in a public hospital. The largest waiting lists are in ear, nose and throat and general paediatrics. I do want to acknowledge the work though that Minister Rabbit has done in relation to the assessments and I do know that that is an area that she has been working on. I will say that a lot of the difficulty is, as you acknowledge yourself, the therapies. So like just one example we have in my constituency where somebody is waiting three years for speech and language. Now you know we all know about early intervention and it being key three years is you know it's hard to even know what to say to a parent in that situation. So it's really really important that the occupational therapy and the speech and language and all the other therapies that are needed are followed through on and I do think that I would welcome if that's what you're going to focus on. I would like to focus on now because it is really really important. Developmental checks as well are absolutely crucial for young children and a lot of these appointments have been pushed out, particularly due to COVID and then the cyber attack. And you know it does feel like for people that there is always something you know and I think that's important that we reflect that message tonight because people are really really frustrated. Doctors and consultants will say that routine procedures are being pushed further and further out and that many children are actually not being seen until they are adults which you know is a whole other issue. I want to really briefly in the 30 seconds I have left mention a particular issue to Minister Butler and I would take the opportunity to email this on to her. It is in relation to a nursing home in Ballyraget in Kilkenny where a patient has been approved for home care, they cannot find a carer and they are in a nursing home since February of this year because of that situation. So I might send that on to yourself because that is an example of somebody that can be moved on. The family wants them home, they have been approved for the package, all they need is the actual person and that obviously is going to lead to waiting lists. So I am going to finish on that and I am going to commend my colleague Deputy Cullinan for the work on this. Thanks. Thank you.
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