Joan Collins (Dublin South Central, Independents 4 Change) | Oireachtas source

In December, I submitted a question on the lack of development assessments for newborn babies at three and ten months of age at the Old County Road Health Centre. The reply I received explained there was a deficit of public health nurses and that a plan was in place to see children on the waiting list in January 2023. I put the question again in the Dáil at the end of January, after receiving emails from constituents saying there was still a delay. The reply was that a plan had been put in place by services in Crumlin. I received an email from a young first-time mother on Friday. She wrote that she rang to get her child's three-month development check but was told they would not be seen at that time. She asked whether they would be seen at six months but the centre said that was not likely. She was advised to go to their local GP to get the development check. This is not on. The services at Crumlin and Drimnagh, where public health nurses are being moved from one healthcare centre to another on Armagh Road, are leaving children vulnerable. They are being failed by the public health service.

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