THE HSE HAS for the first time published a list of which items for children and adults with a disability are covered by a medical card.

The release, which has been welcomed by campaigners as a “win for transparency”, contains thousands of vital specialised equipment such as wheelchairs as well as smaller items to assist people with complex needs.

Parents of children with disabilities who were campaigning on the issue told The Journal recently of major issues in how some regional HSE organisations treat access to the equipment, claiming a “lack of transparency” around its funding also.

The items are available through the HSE’s Community Funded Schemes, which cover supports and supplies provided through primary care services. They are provided based on a clinical assessment.

Rebecca O’Riordan, a spokesperson for Families Unite for Support and Services (Fuss) said the decision to make the list of items that are covered public is a relief.

“Families were self-funding items only to then find out they could’ve gotten them through medical card,” she told this site.

O’Riordan said that it had been frustrating for parents to be “repeatedly given incorrect information” previously.

“Often a clinician may have had the wrong information because it seemed as if many people got different information (on which equipment was available under a medical card).

“It will benefit families, staff and also adults with disabilities to just know and have absolute clarity on what the medical card is actually going to cover in relation to equipment.”

She said the group met the then-Taoiseach Micheál Martin last August to lobby for the release of the list. “This is a big win for transparency,” she added.

A spokesperson for the HSE said the organisation will “continue to improve information provision and access to aids and appliances” as part of its work in the area.

It said by publishing the list on its website it would ensure that “all staff and service users have access to the information they require” on which aids and appliances are available.

The spokesperson added that an ongoing service improvement programme aims to better the Community Funded Schemes and ensure greater equity of access no matter where across the country an individual is living.

“It also aims to put in place national standards and functional processes for the day to day management of these schemes, in order to improve the quality of the services that we are delivering to the community and to achieve greater value for money in the use of valuable public resources,” the HSE spokesperson said.

The list can be accessed here on the HSE website.