AN extremely high use of health services and high levels of ill health and disability have been found in a survey in the Jobstown area of Tallaght, Dublin.
It was carried out by the Jobstown Integrated Development Project, funded by the Department of Social Welfare, in conjunction with the Department of Community Health and General Practice at Trinity College Dublin. The survey of 400 households found that
. More than half of all households reported having at least one member with a chronic illness or disability. The most common illness was respiratory.
. A third of households had at least one member in hospital in the last year.
. Almost one fifth of households had a family member on the waiting list for hospital treatment. Of these, half had been on the waiting list for more than six months.
. Almost all (96 per cent) households had at least one member who visited a family doctor in the past year.
The survey also found low levels of education in the area. More than half the women surveyed had left school by the age of 15.
A fifth of women reported they had been raped or attacked, usually by someone they knew. The report recommends that a women's refuge be established in Tallaght, that gardai "improve their efficiency" in responding to crises and that the forthcoming Tallaght Hospital liaise with family doctors to provide a gynaecological service.