Tipperary South candidates must hear waiting list realities
Editorial: Families faced with long waiting lists for essential health services for their children must be heard during this election
The figure of 3,680 children in south Tipperary whose names are on waiting lists for therapies in July of this year that emerged this week are truly shocking.
That number should be presented to every election candidate calling on the doors of voters up to polling day.
Government and opposition TDs going for re-election should be challenged on those waiting lists . They should be asked to explain how such a situation that places so many Tipperary families in an intolerable position exists.
Candidates looking for seats in the next Dáil should be asked how they were going to address the waiting lists and how they were going to ensure children received the service they deserve in a timely fashion.
Ophthalmology treatments accounted for 45% of the backlog and surely the HSE should be held accountable and made to explain to the public why this was the case.
Are HSE recruitment embargos to blame, embargos have been lifted but concern has been raised about HSE “recruitment embargoes by stealth”.
The situation with the Ophthalmology treatment is unacceptable as is the situation with other waiting lists for therapies and assessments.
Those services include Audiology, Dietetics, Occupational Therapy, Physiotherapy and Speech & Language therapy.
Children aged between newborns and 17- year-olds were waiting for these therapies and assessments.
These cases are most urgent as early intervention is essential if the best outcome for the children and their families is to be achieved.
The anxiety must be unbearable for parents as they are helpless in the face of such bureaucracy.
No doubt candidates will hear the frustration of the parents over the campaign at the doorstep. It is important that their voices are not the only ones to be heard. Candidates must know that all voters are concerned about this unacceptable situation.