Tim Lombard (Fine Gael)
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I welcome the Minister of State. I wish to raise the really significant issue of podiatry care in west Cork and will begin by providing some background information. There are more than 300 people in west Cork on a waiting list that is going nowhere. The majority of the people on the list are elderly. Many suffer with arthritis and diabetes and they need podiatry care. Last March, 15 out of 25 whole-time equivalent posts were vacant and because of that, people are waiting over a year to access podiatry care. It is bizarre that elderly and vulnerable people are waiting for nearly a year to access this service. I am concerned about the provision of podiatry services in the short term. In the longer-term, we have been told that a recruitment campaign is ongoing. I ask the Minister of State to outline the position with regard to that campaign over the last six months. Six months ago there were 15 vacancies. Have we made progress in filling those posts? What are the short-term care options for the 300 people who are so badly affected by this issue? At the moment, the service is firefighting in its efforts to ensure that people can see a podiatrist.

The way in which the service is organised is also a matter of concern. I have been contacted by people who are travelling from Clonakilty to Bantry and from Skibbereen to Clonakilty to access podiatry services. Where is the joined-up thinking here? We need to make sure that where there are podiatrists in a town, they are not travelling 30 or 40 miles to another town for an appointment. People have contacted me who would have had three or four podiatry appointments per year previously but now they are only getting one appointment every 18 months. This is a really significant issue. I realise that a recruitment campaign is ongoing but 15 vacancies out of a total of 25 posts is a really significant number and the knock-on impacts are enormous.

I ask the Minister of State to provide an update on the filling of the aforementioned vacancies. What is the short-term plan? We know the long-term plan is to fill the vacancies but we need to see some movement here. The 300 people in west Cork that I am dealing with need to see this service up and running.

Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Senator for raising this very important issue, which, I appreciate, is very distressing for the families concerned. The Minister for Health is aware that the recruitment and retention of staff across CHO 4 has been very challenging in recent months as considerable organisational and operational changes have been implemented. Indeed, as part of the enhanced community care programme, there are several vacancies across Cork and Kerry, including in west Cork. Cork Kerry Community Healthcare continues to run recruitment campaigns at local, national and international level to fill these vacancies and has assured the Minister that a robust communication campaign is being utilised to attract eligible candidates.

As an interim measure, a senior podiatrist from the Clonakilty primary care centre is providing podiatry care for those at greatest risk in west Cork, or network 10. Eligible patients continue to be seen and are being provided with ongoing care from this location. Those who are most urgent on the waiting list are being seen first. When all of the active, in remission and high-risk patients are seen and when space in the schedule becomes available, moderate-risk patients will be offered scheduled appointments. Currently, a total of 46 people are on the waiting list in west Cork. Cork Kerry Community Healthcare reports that there is only one child aged between 5 and 17 on the waiting list and although this patient has been waiting over 12 weeks to be seen, he or she is in a lower-risk category than other patients. Of those patients aged between 18 and 64, four have been waiting less than 12 weeks, two have been waiting less than 26 weeks and three have been waiting over a year. For those patients aged over 65 years, six have been waiting less than 12 weeks, nine have been waiting less than 26 weeks, four have been waiting less than 39 weeks and three have been waiting less than 52 weeks. However, there are 14 patients aged over 65 who have been waiting for longer than a year to be seen. Cork Kerry Community Healthcare has assured the Minister that priority is being given to those patients most at risk and that the majority of patients waiting to be seen are in the lower-risk categories. The Minister has, however, asked Cork Kerry Community Healthcare to accelerate the process whereby those waiting for more than a year can be seen.

The senior podiatrist from the Clonakilty primary care centre who is providing interim cover is also proactively providing training to other members of the multidisciplinary teams within the network, including two GPs, public health nurses and practice nurses. The senior podiatrist will also continue to provide services to west Cork in the short term. She has also agreed to travel to Bantry primary care centre to start a podiatry service there. Cork Kerry Community Healthcare has advised that it is forging strong links to ensure that this service will be well established when the new staff members are in post.

Tim Lombard (Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister of State for his response. The key issue is the number of vacancies. Six months ago, according to the figures I received, 15 out of 25 whole time equivalent posts were vacant in the Cork, Kerry region. I seek an update on the recruitment campaign. Perhaps the Minister of State does not have up-to-date figures. I ask that the Department provide such figures to me in the next few hours. How is the recruitment campaign going and how many of those 15 vacancies have been filled since last March? The long-term goal is to fill those vacancies. I acknowledge there is an issue with trying to attract people but we must find staff to fill these vacancies. Otherwise, the problem of long waiting lists will just continue.

Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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Again, I thank Senator Lombard for raising what is obviously a very serious issue. The Minister for Health is responsible for this area so I will make contact with his office this morning and ask that an update on those 15 vacancies be provided to Senator Lombard. I appreciate that this is a significant issue for the community in west Cork.

Lynn Boylan (Sinn Fein)
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I thank the Minister of State for his responses.