Older people in Kildare waiting over three years to access occupational therapy services
The HSE has said that the long wait time is down to 'the inability of the service to meet the demand within the current capacity'
Older people in County Kildare are waiting over three years to access occupational therapy (OT) services.
The revelation was made by Kildare South and Labour Party TD Mark Wall, who also called for urgent action to address the issue.
Information obtained by Deputy Wall through a parliamentary question shows that the current waiting time for OT services in Kildare is approximately 169 weeks, or 3.25 years.
In response to this, the Health Service Executive (HSE) has said that the long wait time is 'due to the inability of the service to meet the demand within the current capacity.'
'LEFT TRAPPED'
Speaking further on the matter, Deputy Wall said: "My office is supporting a number of older people who are dealing with long delays to access vital services like OT, and it is being raised more and more.
"Many of these older people are left trapped in hospital beds or their own homes due to the inability of the health service to meet the demand that’s there.
"This will only result in further deterioration of the older person’s health and place even more pressure on our healthcare system."
Deputy Wall continued: "We are constantly being told that Ireland is a rich country, but this appears only true for those that can pay for private healthcare; the government must get to grips with these spiralling waiting lists.
"Having an older person waiting over three years to be seen by an OT simply isn’t good enough.
"In the next 15 years, our older population is expected to increase to over one million people; the government must start forward planning to deal with the challenges that comes with an ageing population such as increased demand for healthcare services which are already stretched as is."
Labour Party TD for Kildare South, Mark Wall. File photograph
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