Children who need to access dermatology services at Temple Street Children's Hospital now face being placed on an additional waiting list due to a lack of specialists, the Irish Skin Foundation (ISF) has warned.

Previously, children were placed on one of two waiting lists - urgent cases and those on a waiting list with an appointment. However new GP referrals are now being placed on a third waiting list that covers cases with no appointment.

"Effectively this means that there is now a waiting list to join the waiting list," the ISF said.

It noted that dermatology services in the busy children's hospital are already operating without an in-house consultant dermatologist ‘due to the unscheduled leave of two part-time consultants'.

Meanwhile no suitable candidate has applied for a six-month locum post in paediatric dermatology at the hospital, which was first advertised by the HSE last March. This post was also advertised in the British Medical Journal in November, but again without success.

"This is a disaster for hundreds of families waiting for a first appointment for dermatology assessments and treatments under a specialist physician. This directly affects the care of 1,200-1,300 paediatric patients, who cannot secure a place on the waiting list," the foundation insisted.

It said that Temple Street has written to all parents who have a referral letter for a first appointment, and to their GPs, to advise them of the situation. Parents with a child on the waiting list for an appointment have been told that a date will be provided ‘as soon as the service has been resumed in late spring 2015'.

"In the meantime, access to the waiting list for a first appointment has effectively been closed. Ultimately, this will cause additional pressure on paediatric dermatology services in other centres and delay patient care," it noted.

The ISF is calling on the Government and groups representing consultants to ‘renew efforts to resolve issues causing the recruitment and retention crisis in specialist branches of medicine such as dermatology'.

It noted that in a number of areas, such as Wexford and Kilkenny, there are no locally available paediatric dermatology services.

The foundation added that it is hoping to open a patient helplne in the coming months to provide advice from a specialist nurse by appointment.

The ISF provides support for people with skin conditions in Ireland. For more information, click here