Shock is being expressed by a Co Kildare TD in relation to the waiting lists for mental health services.
Fiona O’Loughlin, TD for Kildare South and member of the Oireachtas Committee into the Future of Mental Health has raised huge concerns over the figures released to her through a Parliamentary Question.
Figures released to the Deputy showed extremely high waiting times for patients aged between 5-17 years of age across the country and in Kildare. Deputy O'Loughlin commented after examining the data. She said: “I was shocked to see that there were 75 youths in the Kildare/ West Wicklow location that have been waiting more than 52 weeks for initial appointments to see a psychologist”.
Deputy O'Loughlin said: “This is simply not good enough from our healthcare system and the Minister needs to open his eyes to the real statistics and the real people that are waiting for this service and many other services. The HSE budget needs to accommodate for all types of healthcare situations and a reality is that psychological assessments are vital”.
She said: “Kildare has been hit hard with many families having experienced the shortfalls of our mental health services in the past and it us up to us all to ensure that these shortfalls are not repeated over and over again”.
Deputy O'Loughlin said:“I plan to bring this up at any opportunity I get with the Minister into 2018 and I am hopeful that Minister Harris will have already began to examine ways to alleviate these waiting times."
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