A six-year-old boy who lives with complex needs spent over 700 days more than medically necessary in hospital, the Ombudsman for Children’s Office (OCO) has found.
The case of the boy, known as Marcus, is one of several highlighted in the OCO’s annual report for 2024, published on Wednesday.
The OCO first received a complaint from Marcus’s family about his hospital admission in 2022. Marcus, who was in the care of Tusla, had a range of medical needs and was dependent for all aspects of his care.
The complaint was initially closed in 2023, when the six-year-old was discharged to a residential unit established to cater for his needs. By that time, he had spent more than 500 days in hospital beyond medical need.
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Last year, Marcus had to return to hospital when concerns arose about the quality and safety of the care he was receiving in the residential unit. He remained in hospital for a further 200 days.
Tusla and the HSE acknowledged that the hospital setting was not an appropriate placement for Marcus and advised that “significant changes” were implemented to address the problems that had arisen. This included a change in management at the residential unit.
It was one of 1,772 complaints made to the OCO last year, a slight decrease from the 1,790 received in 2023.
However, the OCO said complaints are becoming “more complex”, with almost one in five relating to multiple agencies, and a third relating to multiple categories of concern.
Education remained the most complained about issue last year at 33 per cent, with special educational supports, bullying and complaints management in schools being the most prominent issues.
Tusla accounted for 19 per cent of complaints which related to children in residential and special care, and access to interventions and support.
Complaints about health services (15 per cent) included issues over access to child and adolescent mental health services (Camhs), children in hospital beyond medical need, and a lack of access to assessments of need.
The OCO also received complaints regarding housing (4 per cent) concerning waiting lists and accessing emergency accommodation.
In the annual report, Dr Niall Muldoon, the Ombudsman for Children, said he is “exasperated and utterly dismayed” with the year-on-year rise in the number of homeless families living in emergency accommodation.
Noting there were upwards of 4,500 children availing of homeless services at the end of 2024, Dr Muldoon said the OCO still receives complaints from those trying to access emergency accommodation.
“It’s clear that the delays these families are experiencing, due to the lack of available and affordable housing, is having a significant adverse impact on their children’s lives,” he said.
“In a country as well-off as Ireland economically, we must surely be able to better funnel our resources into where they are needed most,” he said.
