Kathleen Funchion: Over 1,000 wait for speech therapy in Carlow-Kilkenny

Thank you, Chair, and thanks, Minister, for being here to hear this issue. You might remember a few weeks ago when we had the disability motion, the cross-party one, that I kind of touched on this, but I am bringing it up specifically this evening because there is a serious issue, I suppose, in general with assessments in the Carr Local Kenny area, but particularly then around appointments in the speech and language category. Now, there are issues, I suppose, around occupational therapy as well, but specifically, and it is broken into two different categories, so at the moment, awaiting an actual appointment for speech and language, you have 929 children between Carl and Uncle Kenny, and then 137 children that are classed in the disability category, so that is obviously over 1,000 children just waiting an appointment for speech and language therapy, and it just happened to be in the last week, I got two parliamentary question responses back about two specific cases, one was occupational therapy, and one was speech and language therapy, and both estimated the appointments will be October 2021. Now, these are for children that are already about a year on the waiting list, and we are obviously just into November, so that is a full year away, and it is just heartbreaking to have to go back to parents with that information, and, you know, there are so many people out there that cannot afford to access private services, and it is just not an option, and they are seeing their children potentially deteriorating, and particularly in relation to kids starting school, or in the first few years of school, where it is so crucial, and you can be set back by so many years, and the difference that a number of appointments with a speech and language therapist could make are invaluable, and, you know, like we talk about, the number of appointments with a speech and language therapist could make are invaluable, and, you know, like we talk about, the numbers, and, you know, like the numbers, and, you know, it is, I was quite surprised that it was as high as this, even though I knew from people contacting me there was an issue, but at the end of the day, over those 1,000 numbers on a page, that's over 1,000 children that are suffering as a result, and, as I say, some are actually waiting 12 months for an assessment, and then it turns out to be two and a half years for therapy, so this obviously just is going to have a detrimental effect on children, and I suppose I am just urging you to look into the situation, particularly in Carlow-Kilkenny, around the assessment waiting time, and then around speech and language, you know, really something does need to be done, and I think on the list in terms of actual speech and language therapists, you know, there's nine in Kilkenny and five in Carlow, and, or sorry, six in Kilkenny and five for OT, and, you know, it just, they're covering two big counties, both rural and urban mix, it's, it's not doable, there definitely needs to be more therapists put in place, you know, like, and I know some people will say COVID, but really this was an issue, and I know you know that, Minister, you were active on this, I suppose, when you were on this side of the house, and, you know, it's great that you're in that ministry, and I hope that you will take it on board, and I know you've, you've committed various monies, or additional monies, but there really is an issue here, and the only way to solve it is by recruiting more speech and language therapists, occupational therapists, to deal with the assessment, and then to deal with the appointments. So, I'll just wait for your response. Thanks. Thank you, Deputy. I'm Helen Storch. Thank you very much, Chair, and thank you, Deputy Funcion, for bringing forward this very important topical issue here tonight, and it is not the first time either that CH05 has been raised by yourself or by any of your colleagues. I'm going to stick to the script, and then I'm going to tell you a conversation I had afterwards. So, the HSC and its funded disability partners will continue to provide therapeutic supports in line with the public health guidance and direction, while also bearing in mind the availability of staffing resources. Some HSC and the South East Community Health Care staff members, including speech and language therapists, were redeployed to the swapping centres in line with national priority. However, the HSC are currently engaged in a recruitment campaign for staff to support community testing facilities for COVID-19. Recruitment of these roles will support the returning of staff who have been temporarily seconded to swabbing centres and contact tracing centres to return to the substantive roles. In the South East, the first group of swabbing staff commenced on 15 October and they are currently being trained, which will facilitate therapists returning to the substantive roles. In addition, COVID-19 restrictions have also impacted on the speech and language therapist service provision in recent months. This service is currently working towards a full service resumption by ensuring that the appropriate measures are in place to ensure safe service delivery to both clients and staff. The speech and language therapists are also continuing to work with service users and their families remotely and using technology in effective ways. In resuming services, guidelines on social distancing and infection control must be observed. Routine services have recommenced over the last few weeks, but a reduced capacity in order to comply with COVID-19 measures. This has unfortunately impacted on waiting times in each service. The South East Community Healthcare fully understand the burden of frustration and acknowledge the concerns for a prompt continuous assessment of speech and language therapy intervention. They and I are hopeful that services will fully resume at the earliest possible opportunity. In addition to the issues outlined, it is also acknowledged that given increased referral rates and demands for assessment and interventions, there is a requirement for additional resources to meet the current need in each area of speech and language therapy provision. To that end, Deputy, you spoke about the fact of the additional funding. The £7.8 million that was allocated for the assessment of needs, can I be very clear with you that of that money, 643 children are waiting in CH05 for an assessment. Of that of them, can I tell you that none of my network disability children's teams in CH05, none of them, the network disability teams, are part of the swabbing. All of my staff within those teams are actually in their posts in the CH05. I today spoke with Janet O'Dwyer prior to taking the question here this evening, and I have asked that they make it a priority within CH05 to follow what they have already done in relation to the network disability teams and put priority on the primary care team. A lot of the staff that you have referenced there in relation to primary care in the six to eighteens and in the early intervention team, they are actually out of the primary care, which doesn't fall under my remit, that's not washing my hands of it, because I spoke to Minister Donnelly before tonight, to actually get his support that the primary care team would put a focus on returning any of our clinicians, because it is now deemed an essential service and the disability side of things, because that's what I got in this level five, that my primary care members of staff would return to the post of doing the early intervention piece of speech and language. Thank you, Minister. Thank you, Minister. I welcome that. I suppose just to make the point as well, that I do think it is important that essential therapists and clinicians are not actually put out to contact tracing or swabbing. That is not to diminish COVID and the seriousness of it. I understand maybe at the start of the pandemic there was a bit of a panic, but now we are definitely well into it, and I think we can't use that as an excuse. And I know you acknowledge you want the people in their correct roles, but I think that's really, really important. We already had an issue of waiting lists and waiting times for assessments and various therapies. We can't have it compounded by COVID, and we also can't have COVID being the scapegoat. So it's just really important that the issue is addressed. And I understand what you're saying, but I would just ask you to go back to that. I mean, the therapists really are doing their absolute best. And it is very difficult when you're seeing a never-ending waiting list and you know that that's children that you want to be able to help, that you know you have the skills to help, but that you're basically hampered because there's not enough of you. So it's really important that we do have recruitment of the speech and language therapists and occupational therapists so that we don't have these waiting lists. You know, there is a number of cases now, as I said, that I'm dealing with, where they're looking at October 2021. You know, we just can't have that for children. They're going to fall way, way behind in their school and in their development, and it's going to have a major effect eventually on children's confidence, on their mental health, you know, particularly around speech and language. You know, it's crucial that for school aged children and children about to start schools, they get those interventions. We always talk about early intervention and we all know how important it is and how it makes a difference. So it's really important that we actually put that into action and we have the required therapists. But I do welcome that you will look into this specifically now for Carl and Uncle Kenny, because it is an important issue. Thanks, Minister. Thank you very much. And thank you very much, Deputy Function. You are right in relation to therapists. So as part of the budget in 2021, there was the commitment to recruit an additional 100 therapists, of which speech and language therapists will be part and parcel, no different to OTs, no different to physios, because I want to fill out my network disability teams, my children's network disability teams, of which there's going to be 91 right across the country. But there's no point in having leads on it if I don't have the therapist there to actually do the intervention. The other piece of it in relation to the figures there of the 382 that are awaiting that assessment of needs, I can tell you that those assessment of needs from after talking to the lady today in CH05, Jeanette, they will be completed at the very latest by the end of April. So the intervention piece that will follow suit for those 382, along with the other families that are waiting there, the whole intervention piece will be following on straight away. So for families who have got letters telling them it will be January or it will be August 2021 before they will see them. They will have been two years on the list. My last 100 therapists actually went out and they were doing contact tracing and swabbing. Some of the 100 therapists that we talked about never actually went into the field of being proper clinicians. They are now being returned back into the network disability teams and in Car Local Kenny they are all back in post. So the next recruitment of the other 100 on top of them, you will see a dramatic improvement and that should be some comfort to the parents as it starts to come on stream. So we are seeing the pathways and the flows starting. It will take us some time when we have completed the assessment of needs to see the outcome of it. But I am confident from talking to Jeanette earlier today that it is a priority for herself and I will be talking with the CHO who is fully responsible to see that it is a priority within CHO 5 not just within the disability but within primary care as well. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.