The way in which discretionary medical cards are allocated to seriously ill children has been described as a ‘hellish lottery'.

A team of specialist children's nurses have written an open letter to the Minister for Health voicing their concerns about the situation.

The nurses are responsible for designing and managing homecare plans for children being aided by the Jack & Jill Foundation. The foundation provides funding to the families of children up to the age of four, who suffer with severe intellectual and physical health problems as a result of brain damage.

These children require intensive home nursing care and the funding provided by the foundation enables families to obtain home respite care. End-of-life care is also provided. Around 300 children are under the care of the foundation at any one time.

According to the nurses, while medical card allocation has always been an issue, the situation ‘has become particularly vicious over the past two years'.

"It is only a matter of time before somebody, most likely a stressed out parent, is pushed over the edge by this unjust system. We see the danger signs already. Parents worn out, reduced to tears, not sleeping, not coping and worried out of their minds in relation to their child's medical card.

"The ‘lucky' ones who have a temporary six or 12-month medical card live in dread of the next review and the whole torturous process of form filling, rejection letters, more visits to GPs for supporting evidence etc... which starts all over again," they stated.

The said that they are particularly concerned for those parents who ‘suffer in silence' and who have ‘given up already'. They describe these parents as ‘depressed and beaten into submission by a system that is just too hard'.

"The medical card system in Ireland is broken. It lacks humanity, is unjust and inconsistent. It is a hellish lottery," the nurses insisted.

They pointed out a number of serious issues with the current system, including:
-The 12-page medical card application form is entirely financial. The medical needs of the child are not taken into account. The nurses believe it should be ‘torn up and redesigned into a simpler, shorter format'
-Caring for a child at home is actually more cost-efficient for the State than caring for a child in hospital. This should be supported, not made more difficult
-The onus is on parents to navigate this minefield. If an application for a medical card is rejected, the HSE provides no clear pathway for them to follow afterwards.

The nurses are calling on the Health Minister, Dr James Reilly, to come up with a ‘timely and cost-effective solution' to this serious issue.

"Our call to action is simple Minister. Review, refresh and redesign this system of discretionary medical cards. Recognise the child in his or her own right. The system is broken and we need you to fix it," they added.

For more information on the Jack & Jill Foundation, click here