BOTH TEMPLE Street Children’s Hospital and the Health Service Executive were “most concerned” about waiting times for paediatric respiratory referrals, a joint statement from the HSE and the hospital said last night.
They were responding to an earlier statement from Fine Gael health spokesman Dr James Reilly that: “GPs have been informed that Temple Street Children’s Hospital has closed its respiratory clinic to referrals because it has a two-year waiting-list.”
However, the HSE and the hospital said: “Currently, for urgent referrals the average waiting-time is six weeks. For routine referrals the waiting time is on average six months.”
Dr Reilly added in his statement that the clinic, “treats children with serious conditions like cystic fibrosis, asthma, recurrent pneumonia and bronchitis.
“The fact that it now has a two- year waiting list and has closed to referrals is a disgraceful sign of the way our hospitals are resourced and will have serious consequences for children who need treatment,” Dr Reilly said.
The HSE and the hospital said “a number of significant actions” were already under way to deal with the issue of waiting-times.
These included prioritising the most serious cases and the appointment of a second paediatric respiratory consultant next April.
A new €3 million capital development programme at the hospital would provide dedicated outpatient facilities for respiratory services: “This will involve a combination of both HSE and private funding.”
The HSE was “working closely with the three paediatric hospitals to put in place new arrangements for managing many of the paediatric services in a single stream, thereby ensuring that specialist expertise is shared as appropriate in order to ensure improved access”, the joint statement added.
Dr Reilly said in his statement: “As in the case of Crumlin Children’s Hospital earlier this year this Government is happy to let children suffer the consequences of their broken system. As part of Fine Gael’s fair care plans for the health service we want to see hospitals move to a ‘money follows the patient’ system to change the way hospital resources are allocated so that the patient is always a priority.
“It is completely unacceptable that children with serious underlying conditions are left without services because of the ineptitude of this Government and its appalling inability to manage the health service,” he added.