PATIENTS stay longer than necessary in hospital because of the shortage of occupational therapists, according to the Association of Occupational Therapists in Ireland.
The association's chairwoman, Ms Ginny Hanrahan, told a conference of therapists from both sides of the Border that the shortage was costing the State more than an adequate number of therapists would cost, as beds were occupied for longer than necessary.
Patients at risk were kept in hospital at weekends because community health services only operate five days a week.
"Increasingly, occupational therapists working in acute general hospitals, rehabilitation centres and in the community are coming across older people who have difficulties in their activities of daily living, ranging from managing self maintenance tasks such as bathing to driving and socialising, she said.
"As the population continues to age, this problem will get worse and the already substantial demand for occupational therapy services will become more acute.
There are 320 occupational therapists in the Republic, with a population of over 3.5 million, compared to 280 in the North, servicing 1.5 million people. Equal access to health services was a priority according to the Minister for Health, Mr Noonan, but access to therapists in the west and south was "extremely limited", Ms Hanrahan said.
"There are no occupational therapy services at all in the Limerick Regional Hospital. There is one occupational therapist in the psychiatric unit in Galway University Hospital, but there is no occupational therapist to cover the patients in the acute general hospital and there is only one full time and one part time community occupational therapist in the whole of Cork city and county."