DUBLIN, Ireland: More than 42,000 children across Ireland have been left waiting over a year for vital healthcare services in their communities, according to new figures that have raised alarm among politicians and patient advocates who warn that children are being "left behind by the State."

The figures come from an analysis of Health Service Executive (HSE) waiting lists across eight different community healthcare disciplines — audiology, dietetics, occupational therapy, ophthalmology, physiotherapy, podiatry, psychotherapy, and speech and language therapy. These services are considered essential to the Government's efforts to shift more care out of crowded hospitals and into local communities under the Sláintecare reform plan.

As of the end of June, 287,787 people were waiting for an appointment across these eight disciplines. That represents a rise of nearly 10 per cent since December, when around 260,000 people were on the lists.

Long delays are particularly stark. More than 75,000 people have been waiting over a year, and children make up the majority of this group. A total of 42,376 children have faced waits longer than 12 months for services that can be critical to their development, education, and long-term health.

When the waiting lists are broken down by discipline, physiotherapy has the single largest backlog, with 87,901 people waiting. Occupational therapy is next, with 47,850. But child psychology stands out for the scale of delays: more than 14,000 children have been waiting longer than a year for psychological care.

These figures are in addition to other waiting lists that children face across the health system. More than 4,400 young people are currently waiting to access Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS). A further 16,593 children are awaiting an assessment of need, 10,961 are on waiting lists for child disability network teams, and 4,945 adults are waiting for homecare support.

The figures, released to Social Democrats health spokesman Pádraig Rice TD through parliamentary questions, prompted him to warn that the State is failing children. "These numbers show the scale of the crisis in primary and community care. Children in particular are being left behind by the State," he said. He called on Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill to "get serious about building capacity in primary and community care."

Stephen McMahon, co-founder of the Irish Patients Association, described the numbers as "shocking and unacceptable." He said the scale of the problem suggests that "something is fundamentally wrong with the system."

In response, the HSE highlighted the large number of people its primary care services already treat. A spokesperson said more than 3.2 million attendances are provided each year across therapy, diagnostic, general practice, and homecare settings, with almost 1.4 million people receiving therapy services in 2023. The HSE said referrals for therapy services rose by seven percent in 2023 and by one percent last year, though it noted the trend had "begun to stabilise" this year.

Despite these reassurances, advocates warn that unless urgent steps are taken to expand community healthcare, children will continue to suffer the consequences of long delays in accessing essential services.