Vol. 449 No. 1
70 Mr. Hughes asked the Minister for Health whether he has satisfied himself with the existing staffing levels for speech and language therapy in the Western Health Board area; the number of adults on the waiting list for treatment; the way in which the service currently compares to that in other health board areas; and the improvements, if any, that will be effected in the service in 1995. [3089/95]
Limerick East): The provision of speech and language therapy services in the Western Health Board areas is in the first instance a matter for that Board. There are currently 19.66 wholetime equivalent speech and language therapists employed in the Western Health Board area. As the service is currently focused on children, details of the waiting lists for adults are not available from the board. A comparison with other boards is shown in the following table:
|
Health Board |
Number of Speech and Language Therapists |
Number per 100,000 Population |
|
Eastern Health Board |
88.41 |
7.10 |
|
Midland Health Board |
12.49 |
6.15 |
|
Mid-Western Health Board |
19.50 |
6.28 |
|
North-Eastern Health Board |
11.97 |
3.99 |
|
North-Western Health Board |
16.00 |
7.69 |
|
South-Eastern Health Board |
7.00 |
1.83 |
|
Southern Health Board |
5.40 |
1.01 |
|
Western Health Board |
19.66 |
5.73 |
|
Total |
180.43 |
5.12 |
