Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I have submitted this Topical Issue seven or eight times before now, so I am pleased that it was selected for today's debate. Like Deputy Shortall, I had hoped that the relevant Minister would have been here. Nonetheless, I hope that the points I wish to make will be brought to the attention of the Minister for Health.

I will cite the example of one child because there is a disproportionately young population in my constituency, as the Acting Chairman, Deputy Wall, will know. It may not be that the same situation pertains throughout the country. It may well be different elsewhere, but my experience is that parents seeking an ear, nose and throat specialist for their children are experiencing considerable delays.

The example concerns a child who is about to enter secondary school in September this year. She is routinely on antibiotics and painkillers because of a chronic problem with tonsils and her sleep has been badly affected. Because her tonsils are enlarged there is a major restriction in her airways which is contributing to sleeplessness. She has lost weight and is very pale. I have met the youngster and it is appalling to talk to a 12 year old about such health problems. It is pretty grim to reach that stage.

In September 2012, this child was referred by the family's GP to an ear, nose and throat consultant in Tallaght Hospital, but was told that it would be 18 months before she would get an appointment. Her GP was then asked to refer her to another hospital and, in January 2013, she was referred to Crumlin Hospital. The latter hospital replied stating:

Thank you for your referral to the ENT department. Currently, the outpatients' waiting time is over two years for routine ENT appointments. [That is not for the operation but for a routine appointment]. Accordingly, we are not in a position to accept your referral at this time. We suggest that you consider referring the patient to an alternative service.

The doctor had obviously been ringing around to see if any service could provide that child with a speedier response. We have had much discussion about building a new national children's hospital, but what seems to have gone under the radar is the fact that children requiring fairly minor medical procedures, which impact badly on their health, are not even being seen at the moment.

Other parents have spoken to me about raising loans and trying to get treatment done privately because they find the delay unacceptable. Someone else told me that the size of the tonsils was impacting on a child's ability to form words and is, consequently, in a queue for speech therapy that they may not need.

I raised this matter in March by way of a parliamentary question. I have highlighted the case of one child but a lot more children are affected. I also raised the overuse of antibiotics. If tonsillitis is left untreated it can lead to serious complications, including heart problems in the most extreme circumstances. I am hoping to hear not only that there will be a move to reduce the delays for routine appointments, but also for the procedures to be carried out. It is unacceptable to see children awaiting fairly minor procedures to give them a better quality of life. I have experienced this problem in a number of hospitals, including Crumlin and Tallaght, which suggests that there is a serious difficulty with waiting lists for this particular discipline. I hope the Minister of State will provide me with some comfort in his response.

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