Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 6 November 2012
1054. Deputy Michael McGrath asked the Minister for Health if he will provide a copy of the health policy that underpins the proposed changes of reducing therapy service provision to children with a moderate intellectual disability, specifically in the context of established special needs schools, in order to increase therapy service provision to children with special needs in mainstream [47886/12]
View answer1055. Deputy Michael McGrath asked the Minister for Health if he will provide a copy of the guidelines or policy document on access to therapy provision for children in established special needs schools in the context of the proposed change to community based therapy provision [47888/12]
View answer1056. Deputy Michael McGrath asked the Minister for Health if the targets on the date specific project plan spanning dates in 2010/2011 as outlined in the HUB Change, specifying the proposed changes regarding therapy access for children with special needs were achieved on time; and if this project plan failed to meet its targets, the reason for same [47889/12]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 1054 to 1056, inclusive, together.
The Health Service Executive has recognised the need to increase the level of consistency and standardisation in the way both early intervention services and services for school-aged children with disabilities are delivered and to this end is currently engaged in a reconfiguration of existing therapy resources to geographic based teams for children (0-18 years).
The National Programme on Progressing Disability Services for Children and Young People (0-18 years) has been established since 2010. It is supported by a National Co-ordinating Group which has representatives from the Department of Health and the Department of Education and Skills in addition to other key stakeholders. The Programme is based on the recommendations of the Report of the National Reference Group on Multidisciplinary Services for Children aged 5-18 Years produced by representatives of the professions and management involved in delivering multi-disciplinary services to children which is available on the HSE website www.hse.ie.
The Programme aims to address the following issues in relation to children’s disability services:
- Inequity of access to services due to inconsistent development of services;
- Environmental change arising from the reorientation towards mainstream education leading to increasing demand for health services to support inclusion;
- Increasing demand for services due to population growth and increased identification of children with disability;
- The need to re-align services with emerging primary care and integrated service structures.
Implementation of the Programme encompasses two elements:
- Ongoing work in co-ordinating and re-organising early intervention services for children aged 0-5 years into integrated, geographically based teams;
- Supporting the re-organisation of services for school-age children aged 5-18 years according to the same model.
The Programme is rolling out at national, regional and local level and involves representatives from the health and education sectors, statutory and non-statutory service providers and parents working together to see how current services can best be re-organised.
The HSE is working very closely with the education sector, which is fully involved in the development of the Programme, to ensure that, from the children’s and parents’ perspective, the services provided by each sector are integrated. An Education and Health Working Group, comprising representatives of both sectors, is developing a framework for closer working relationships.
Information concerning implementation of the Programme is available on the HSE’s Change Hub learning and development website www.hseland.ie. This includes an updated Project Plan covering 2011/2012 with updated targets, as identified in the HSE National Service Plan 2012. While significant progress has been made to date in rolling out the Programme, targets in some areas have not been met for a variety of reasons. Local Implementation Groups have now commenced in all but two areas. Quarterly reports on progress and achievement in meeting targets are monitored by the Programme’s National Co-ordinating Group.
Decisions regarding any local re-organisation of services are the responsibility of the Local Implementation Groups (LIGs). These include stakeholders such as representatives of the service providers involved, parents and the educational sector representatives. Detailed local area action plans are being developed by the LIGs with the following objectives:
- One clear pathway to services for all children with disabilities according to need;
- Resources used to the greatest benefit for all children and families;
- Health and education working together to support children to achieve their potential.
The long term goal of this Programme is to bring consistency in service delivery and a clear pathway to services for all children with disabilities according to need. Implementation of this Programme will have a positive impact on the provision of clinical services for all children requiring access to health related supports, regardless of where they live or which pre-school or school they attend. While the Programme supports the principle of providing access to mainstream education where appropriate, it also recognises a continuing role for special schools.
