Physiotherapist shortage impacting 'quality of life' with 83,000 on waiting lists

Physiotherapists in the HSE are reporting feeling pressures 'worse than covid', according to a survey of physiotherapy managers. Picture:iStock

A teenager unable to do elite-level sport for a year and medicating with antidepressants to cope is just one example of what is happening to more than 83,000 people waiting for physiotherapy, a leading practitioner has warned.

Data published in the Irish Examiner last week showed public waiting lists for physiotherapy — as with seven other therapies — spiralled between 2019 and 2024.

Irish Society of Chartered Physiotherapists CEO Dr Marie Ó Mír said the HSE data showed waiting lists are “even worse than I suspected” across the country.

Therapy is about your quality of life.

“It’s about your ability to play with your kids, go for walks with your friends, to have conversations, or to eat. Therapists might not save lives, but we save quality of life.” 

One teenage patient had been advised to stop elite-level sport due to her injuries. She was on a waiting list for a year to see Dr Ó Mír.

“She finally saw me and she was on multiple antidepressants by then, and she was self-harming because her whole social identity was taken away,” Dr Ó Mír said.

Staff burn-out

Private therapy is expensive, costing anything between €60 and €80 for 30 minutes. There are also very few private paediatric specialist physiotherapists.

She has heard from parents who cannot play with their children because their own backs are in such pain.

A key issue is the widespread shortages of physiotherapists in HSE services, she stressed.

“As of last June the average staff vacancy rate in physiotherapy departments is at least 40% nationally,” she said a survey of physiotherapy managers showed.

Staff are burned out and reported feeling pressures “worse than covid”.

Dr Ó Mír is also deputy chair of the Health Social Care Professions Alliance, which previously surveyed all therapists.

“We know that, of the mangers who responded, 86% of the maternity leaves were not covered across all therapists — to the point where certain community services were just being shut down,” she said.

Treatment figures

HSE data showed over 259,000 people were waiting on therapy treatment or assessment in the community by December 2024, compared to over 167,000 on similar lists by December 2019.

The figures were released to Sinn Féin health spokesman David Cullinane.

“Waiting lists have never been worse,” he said.

“The surge in primary care waiting lists is a shocking indictment of Government’s failure to plan; to train, retain, and recruit the healthcare workers that we need; and to support local health services.” 

A HSE spokesman said that last year some 1,398,763 therapy service users were seen.

“Numbers seen in 2024 are comparable with 2023, however, the rate of referral — often driven by increased referral rates for children’s services — remains a challenge,” he said.

“The rate of referral for therapy services grew by 7% nationally in 2023. In 2024, referrals increased by a further 1%.” 

Physiotherapy is one of three areas where the rise is “particularly notable”, he added.