Thousands of people with physical or sensory disabilities who are registered with State authorities are waiting for assessments for services such as physiotherapy or speech and language therapy, it has emerged.
The first report of the National Physical and Sensory Disability Database has identified just under 20,000 disabled people with visual, physical or hearing impairments under the age of 65.
While most disabled people are receiving some type of service from their health board, the database appears to show major gaps in the provision of a range of therapies.
Of the 19,677 people with physical or sensory disabilities registered with the State, just under 60 per cent (11,740) required assessments from health boards for therapeutic and rehabilitation services.
These services include physiotherapy (20.3 per cent), occupational therapy (19 per cent), chiropody (14.1 per cent) and speech and language therapy (6.6 per cent).
The report identifies hundreds of people who have already been assessed and need a range of services which are not currently being provided.
The database, which was compiled by the Health Research Board using figures supplied by health boards, is the first accurate picture of the personal and social services needs of people with physical and sensory disabilities in the State.
Health authorities will use the figures to identify current trends and future requirements in the provision of services for people with disabilities.
The vast majority of people presenting with physical or sensory disabilities were living with relatives (89 per cent), 9 per cent were living alone, 2.5 per cent were in institutions and 0.7 per cent lived with non-relatives. Just under 1 per cent were living in mobile homes or caravans or were homeless.
The most frequently reported type of disability was physical (82.6 per cent), followed by hearing loss/deafness (6.8 per cent), while the third most frequently reported category was "visual disability only" (6.1 per cent).
The three most frequently reported diagnoses giving rise to these disabilities include problems with the nervous system, such as multiple sclerosis, cerebral palsy or epilepsy (39 per cent), arthritis and back problems (14.3 per cent) and speech problems (9.9 per cent).
In the area of respite services, almost one-quarter of people on the database required an assessment to determine what service they required.
The most common planned respite services for which people required an assessment were holiday respite placements (10.1 per cent), day summer camps (7.7 per cent) and planned home-based respite (5.4 per cent).
The figures contained in the National Physical and Sensory Disability Database relate to 2004. The report points out that the numbers are subject to change as the registration rates of people with disabilities vary from health board to health board.
The information for the database was collated by the health boards and through interviews with individuals who met the registration criteria.
The database is managed nationally by the Health Research Board.
