A round-up of this week's other health news in brief...
Three year's wait for Cork services
Children and adolescents in the south Cork area are waiting up to three years for mental health services, Fine Gael Cork TD Deirdre Clune claimed yesterday.
Deputy Clune called on Minister for Health Mary Harney, the HSE and the Brothers of Charity, which runs the service, to re-allocate staff to reduce waiting times.
“The HSE has confirmed that waiting times for mental health services for children and adolescents in the South Lee area range from 22 to 36 months,” she said. “The Child Adolescent Mental Health Service team for the area, run by the Brothers of Charity, is planning to review its lists to reduce the waiting time. But this is clearly not happening quickly enough.
“Previous experience has shown that early intervention in these cases yields benefits,” she said in a statement . “State investment in improving these services now will, in the long term, save taxpayers far more than initial costs.”
Calls for more MS financial support
The Government has been urged to invest in essential services and to provide “adequate financial support” for people suffering from Multiple Sclerosis (MS) in the Republic. “MS is a disabling, neurological condition and many people cannot work due to the severity of the illness,” said Anne Winslow, chief executive of MS Ireland. “We estimate that 73 per cent of people with MS in Ireland are unemployed and many are living in inappropriate accommodation and struggling financially due to their illness.”
MS Ireland wants the immediate expansion of the medical card scheme so that every person diagnosed with MS is automatically entitled to a medical card. It is also seeking the introduction of a payment to help with the additional costs of living with a disability “as well as a significant increase in the Disabled Persons Housing Grant with a higher means test threshold”.
Ms Winslow said the financial burden for those with MS was immense and their ability to fight their disease was further affected by the lack of neurology services.