884 people in Wexford Area on Audiology treatment waiting list

Wexford currently has 884 people on the audiology treatment waiting list for over a year

Nationally delays are extending up to three years in some areas. That's according to Chime, Ireland’s leading charity for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing. The charity has condemned the HSE's "shocking" delays, calling the system "dysfunctional" as waiting lists have grown from 20,000 in 2020 to over 26,500 in 2024 Nearly half of those waiting are children. The charity are warning that undiagnosed hearing loss, especially in children, can lead to serious developmental and social challenges, while adults face a higher risk of dementia. Chime also called for the urgent completion of the National Hearing Care Plan to help address the growing issue. Speaking to South East RadioNews was Danielle McLoughlin, Director of Advocacy with Chime, who says the charity are calling for the Department of Health to take immediate action "So we've noted that the department and the HSE have released figures on the waiting list for all the other two services and the Wexford/Waterford area was 884 people waiting. And so the capacity is extremely limited and it's having an impact on thousands of people in Ireland. And so what we're calling the government to do is to introduce the nationally hearing care plan that they've made a commitment to do in the working group set up last August. So we're waiting for the results and the findings of that report. And we're hoping that the initiative can set up to bring on board private providers to help resolve and relieve the waiting list. We're very concerned about undiagnosed hearing loss among children. It has a particularly big impact on children and they can experience delayed speech and language acquisition. And, you know, it can be often profound for children and then there are experiencing issues within the classroom among the classmates or peers and can often feel isolated from stigma. And so it's a huge impact on them and their health and well-being and their educational needs. So we want the HSE to consider recommendations from the World Health Organization on developing the national hearing care plan that would be a comprehensive hearing care plan for everyone who needs it."