My concerns relate mainly to senior citizens served by the Old County Road Eastern Regional Health Authority clinic which serves a large area covering parts of Dublin 12 and 6. Delays refer to stair rails, showers, shower fittings, house extensions and wheelchairs for the disabled, elderly and frail people who cannot even get an assessment.
I was told recently that there is a priority one list in Old County Road which deals with people as soon as possible, whatever that is, a priority two list which says they will be dealt with within a year – some priority – and a third priority list of people who will be assessed within two years. I know of cases of people who are confined to their homes, unable to use the stairs or bath, unable to move around or unable to get to the shops because they have not been assessed for a wheelchair or a fitting or some other basic item which would allow them use their homes. At the last count, there were 1,400 such people in the Eastern Regional Health Authority area alone.
I wrote to the health board on 9 March 2000 to make representations on behalf of a named person in Kimmage, who was seeking a visit from the occupational therapy unit to assess her application for an invalid bathroom, which had already been approved by Dublin Corporation in December 1998. She rang Old County Road clinic, to be told she would have to wait another year or two before they could come to assess her. My office rang in March to be told she was not even on the list.
A large number of constituents have told me about delays in receiving visits from the occupational therapy unit in Old County Road in recent years. I have not received similar complaints about other areas in the city. There is a specific and real need in this area, which is by no means the most affluent in the country. I urge the Minister to take steps to deal with this.
I pursued the case of a man from Drimnagh who cannot have an assessment carried out. I received a letter from the health board about this man on 8 February 2000 which stated the occupational therapy department had confirmed the man named was on a priority three waiting list and that the current waiting period was two years. The letter went on to say that if the situation deteriorated he could telephone the occupational therapy department any Tuesday to discuss his case with a therapist.
We have a very serious problem in relation to secondary care. We have a waiting list of 31,000, if we are to accept the Minister's figures, which I think are very optimistic and do not take account of the fact there is a waiting list to get on the waiting list. These people are struggling not to have to go into institutional care or hospital. However, they are being left for long periods awaiting assessment and are becoming prisoners in their own homes for the sake of a stair rail, a shower fitting, a wheelchair or a minor extension. Those people should be able to freely enjoy their homes.
If any Member of this House or any member of our families were asked to wait two years for an assessment we would go through the roof. However, this is the routine treatment of frail and old people in the Dublin 12 area, particularly in the Old County Road clinic. I ask the Minister of State, Deputy Moffatt, if he is not in a position to respond tonight on the specific issue of the Old County Road clinic, to communicate with me in writing, telling me the specific problem there. This cannot be allowed to continue.
