Children on waiting lists facing 'ticking timebomb' of health issues

29,000 children are on hospital waiting lists for 18 months or more, consultants say. File picture

Children are facing a "ticking timebomb" of health issues, with 29,000 stuck on hospital waiting lists for 18 months or more, consultants have warned.

The Irish Hospital Consultants Association analysed waiting list data from the National Treatment Purchase Fund and found 97,000, or one in 12, of the country's children are now awaiting care. Of those, 38,600 have so far been waiting for more than a year.

The analysis shows more than 40% of the children needing to be assessed or treated by a hospital doctor have been waiting longer than 12 months. There has been the same delay for almost a third (32%) of those awaiting inpatient or day-case treatment.

“Conditions which could have been reversed or mitigated against are deteriorating. We’re facing a ticking time bomb of children suffering health and developmental issues due to delays in accessing care,” said IHCA president Professor Alan Irvine. “We must make the recruitment of additional paediatric consultants a priority now.” 

The IHCA points to “successive weeks" of cancelled and postponed operations across the paediatric hospitals in Dublin as indicative of further problems ahead.

It recently estimated the current rates of growth across all waiting lists could mean it would take up to 14 years to reduce the lists “to manageable levels” without a change in approach.

Mary Bresnihan, a consultant ear nose and throat (ENT) surgeon at Sligo University Hospital, said: “In ENT, some of the longest lists are for procedures like tonsillectomies, where surgery could be managed through day-case procedures.” 

She said even when children are assessed and given an operating time, “patients can be at the mercy of emergency or other priorities taking theatre slots at the last minute". Children, in her experience, often miss school or cannot hear properly while at school which affects their education.

“These are problems that are quick and straightforward to resolve given adequate resources. This is a tragedy for those patients and should not happen,” she said.

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A report from the HSE’s National Doctor Training and Planning unit last year found an extra 207 consultants were needed between paediatrics, neonatology and paediatric surgery by 2028.

The IHCA said based on current staffing levels this means hiring 30 doctors every year for the next seven years.

“Ireland has just 9.38 paediatric specialists per 100,000 population compared with an EU-27 average of 18.65 – in other words just 50% of the EU average,” it said in a statement.

It found out of 232 funded consultant roles in paediatrics, 39 were either vacant (20) or filled temporarily only (19) to February this year.