Over 5,500 people are currently waiting for a physiotherapy assessment in Cork North & East.
A total of 5,597 people are waiting for a physiotherapy assessment in Cork North & East, while 2,879 patients are waiting in Cork South & West.
1,798 people have been waiting more than a year for a physiotherapy assessment.
The HSE figures which were taken at the end of June this year were recently released to Sinn Féin health spokesman David Cullinane.
The figures show thousands of people across Cork are waiting for essential community healthcare services, with significant numbers waiting more than a year.
Sinn Féin Senator for Cork North-West Nicole Ryan has called for urgent action to tackle growing primary and community care waiting lists, including recruiting additional staff to help clear waiting-time targets.
Senator Ryan who also wants to see regular publication of waiting lists said the figures show the scale of the crisis in community care across Cork. “In Cork North & East, 5,597 people are waiting for physiotherapy and 1,798 have been waiting more than a year. Children are being particularly badly failed. 2,799 children in Cork North & East are waiting for an occupational therapy assessment, with 1,118 waiting more than a year.”
The Cork Senator continued: “In Cork South & West, 3,420 people are waiting for occupational therapy. There are 2,150 children on the OT waiting list, with 772 waiting more than a year. These waits are completely unacceptable. Children who need occupational therapy, physiotherapy or speech and language therapy cannot afford to lose crucial months and years of their development waiting for an assessment or treatment.”
Ms Ryan said Sláintecare was supposed to move healthcare away from hospitals and deliver more care in communities and closer to people’s homes. “That cannot happen while community services themselves have year-long waiting lists. We need more occupational therapists, physiotherapists, speech and language therapists, psychologists, dietitians, nurses and other community-based healthcare professionals.
“We also need resources targeted at the areas experiencing the longest waits, alongside additional primary care and community diagnostic capacity. Community waiting lists must be treated with the same urgency as hospital waiting lists. Families in Cork deserve timely access to the care their children need, not another year spent on a waiting list,” she added.
Senator Ryan criticised the Irish Government for allowing waiting lists to spiral. “We need a properly staffed and resourced community health service that delivers care when and where people need it.”