Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 22 October 2015
63. Deputy Ruth Coppinger asked the Minister for Health his views on current waiting list times for speech and language therapy, given the Health Service Executive reports that the number of applications for assessments has been rising year on year since 2010; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36666/15]
View answerThe Disability Act 2005 provides for an assessment of the needs of eligible applicants occasioned by their disability. It was partly commenced in 2007 in respect of children up to the age of five. However, arising from a High Court ruling in 2009, all children born on or after 1st June 2002 have been deemed as being eligible to apply for an assessment of need under the Act.
The following table shows that there has been significant year on year increases in the number of children applying for an assessment of need. The full year figures for 2014 show that the numbers have almost doubled since 2008.
|
- |
2007 |
2008 |
2009 |
2010 |
2011 |
2012 |
2013 |
2014 |
2015 – Q1+Q2 |
|
Number of Completed Applications Received |
1,137 |
2,535 |
2,525 |
3,100 |
3,349 |
3,505 |
4,261 |
4,908 |
3,001 |
During the 18 month period from 1st January 2014 to 30th June 2015, 4,473 children deemed to have a disability under the Disability Act received completed Assessment Reports from the HSE. A total of 76% of these children (3,395) were assessed as requiring speech and language therapy services.
Each individual that presents to the HSE's Speech and Language Therapy Service has an initial assessment to determine their individual need for therapy. The therapist in conjunction with the parent(s) or carer will determine the severity of the individual's difficulties and prioritise for therapy accordingly. The level of intervention is in line with clinical policy, age and severity of the diagnosis. The waiting period for intervention is dependent on the nature and severity of the disorder following assessment.
The HSE aims to ensure that the resources available are used to best effect, in order to provide assessment and ongoing therapy to children and adults in line with their prioritised needs. Along with the significant investment in the area of speech and language therapists employed in recent years, a range of new approaches has been developed and used in many Speech and Language Therapy services across the country. These include providing structures, training and support to parents/carers so that they can work to help improve the individual's speech and language. In addition, therapy is delivered in group settings where appropriate.
Therapy services for adults and children are generally delivered through Primary Care Teams or community therapy services; through specialist disability providers or Early Intervention and Children's Teams for 0-18 years, which are continually being developed under Progressing Disability Services for Children and Young People (0-18yrs) Programme. Additional funding of €20m was allocated in 2013 to strengthen Primary Care services and to support the recruitment of prioritised front-line posts. As part of this initiative, the HSE commenced recruitment last year of over 260 additional posts for Primary Care Teams, which included 52 Speech and Language Therapists. All of these Speech and Language Therapy posts have been filled. This will help to significantly address waiting times for such services.
The HSE has commenced the reconfiguration of children's disability services into geographically-based early-intervention and school-aged teams as part of the Progressing Disability Services for Children and Young People Programme. The objective of the Programme is to provide one clear referral pathway for all children (0-18s), irrespective of their disability, where they live or the school they attend. The transition to this service delivery model is governed by a consultation and engagement process with all stakeholders, including service users and their families, and is being implemented on a phased basis, with full implementation of the model scheduled for the end of 2015.
In 2014, the roll out of the Progressing Disability Services for Children and Young People (0-18s) Programme entailed targeted investment of €4m and the provision of 80 additional therapy staff (including 31 Speech and Language Therapists), to increase services for children with all disabilities.
A further €6m allocation was announced in 2015 for the reconfiguration of children's disability services, which will enable us to drive implementation of the Progressing Disability Services for Children and Young People Programme through 120 new staff appointments to reconfigured multi-disciplinary, geographic-based teams, and through using innovative approaches, involving public, voluntary and private providers, to achieve targeted reduction of waiting lists.
Improving access to therapy services for children in primary care and in disability services is a particular priority for the Government. Within this context, funding is being provided in 2016 to expand the provision of Speech and Language Therapy in primary care and to support the reorganisation and expansion of Speech and Language and other therapies under the Progressing Disability Services Programme for Children and Young People.
These measures will have a positive impact on the provision of clinical services for all children requiring access to health related supports.
Currently, total waiting lists across all services for each discipline, e.g. Disability, Older Persons, Primary Care, Mental Health, are gathered monthly by the HSE but not in a format where waiting list figures can be extrapolated for children's disability services specifically. The HSE Social Care, Disability services has commenced the undertaking of a baseline analysis of individual discipline waiting lists for children's disability therapy services across the country and current practices in relation to how waiting lists are managed. The objective is to ensure that the Division of Social Care/HSE has full oversight of the budget/expenditure on 0-18 disability services, has confidence in its waiting list data, and has access to relevant and reliable data to properly account for resources and on which to base its management decisions in relation to allocation and use of resources taking account of demand and equity of access.
