Hike in waiting lists for children's assessments of need

Michael Moynihan, chair of the Oireachtas Committee on Disability Matters, says the figures are 'unacceptable'. Picture: Sam Boal/RollingNews.ie

Waiting lists for children to access 'assessments of need' are spiralling upwards, with the newly appointed chair of an Oireachtas committee claiming "the whole disability sector is in crisis".

The figures show thousands of children are waiting for a year or more for initial assessments and follow-on therapies, with the HSE saying the Covid-19 pandemic has exacerbated the situation.

The figures show 5,533 assessments of need for children are overdue, with the HSE saying just 136 are delayed because of exceptional circumstances.

The HSE said it hoped to address the issue of waiting times by "implementing a revised model of care" for services, including children’s speech and language therapy services and new models for occupational therapy.

Yet, separate data shows a staggering 37,049 people awaiting a first assessment for occupational therapy at the end of August, a third of whom (12,229) are children waiting more than a year.

For speech and language therapy, at the end of August, some 13,419 children aged under 18 were awaiting an initial assessment, with 2,525 waiting more than a year and 506 waiting two years.

The waiting list for initial speech and language therapy treatment was little better, with 9,160 children on the waiting list, of which 3,926 were waiting for a year or more. 

When it came to further speech and language therapy, 15,869 children under 18 were waiting, 3,576 of whom were waiting for more than a year.

The data was provided to Cork North West TD Michael Moynihan, the recently appointed chair of the Oireachtas Committee on Disability Matters, who said he and his colleagues were now seeking submissions from all interested parties to understand the "lived experiences" of people around the country and to "drill down" into why wait times are at such chronic levels.

"The whole disability sector is in crisis at the moment," said Mr Moynihan. "There will be a future taoiseach coming into the Dáil to apologise to these people for the failures of State."

The ministers with responsibilities in the area of disabilities are to be invited before the committee next month and Mr Moynihan said the "unacceptable" figures would be raised with them and in due course with HSE management and community health office chiefs.

In response to Mr Moynihan's parliamentary question, Dr Cathal Morgan, head of operations of HSE Disability Services, Community Operations, said: "Whilst accepting that significant levels of vital therapies were temporarily curtailed due to the current Covid-19 pandemic, processes are underway in order to plan for the reintroduction of non-Covid services.

"The impact of Covid-19 on people’s lives has and continues to be very significant."