Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 7 November 2023
992. Deputy Violet-Anne Wynne asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth his views on the establishment of assessment of needs hubs; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47613/23]
View answerThe Assessment of Need process is set out in the Disability Act, 2005. The aim of an Assessment of Need under the Disability Act is to identify whether a person has a disability, the nature and extent of the disability, any health and education needs arising from that disability, as well as what services are required to meet those needs.
The HSE has progressed a number of actions to address AON waitlists.
Additional funding has been secured to support the delivery of additional assessments, including those procured from the private sector. Approximately €11m has been allocated to address waiting lists for clinical assessments identified through the Assessment of Need process.
The development of Regional Assessment Hubs to undertake AON Assessments has been underway within the HSE, including National Units and the local CHO Areas, over the last number of months. There are Regional AON Hubs in each CHO in place, in order to streamline AON processes, ensuring maximum efficiencies and equity of demand across all areas.
It must be acknowledged that the HSE is experiencing challenges in operationalising the Hubs, with most of them common across all CHO areas. These challenges include recruitment and retention, the growth in AONs and private service-provider capacity being limited due to a shortage of Health and Social Care Professionals
Notwithstanding these challenges, one of the key actions of the Progressing Disability Services (PDS) Roadmap for Service Improvement 2023-2026, launched recently, will see the HSE fully incorporate the Regional Assessment Hubs to streamline the Assessment of Need process, separating it, where required, from the work of Children's Disability Network Teams (CDNTs).
A tender process is also in train to establish a Framework for external service providers on provision of AON to support CHOs in achieving their targets.
