The HSE 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 Coordinating Group which has representatives from the Department of Health and the Department of Education and Skills in addition to other key stakeholders.
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; and 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; and 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. A detailed action plan is being implemented 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; and health and education working together to support children to achieve their potential.
While the Programme supports the principle of providing access to mainstream education where appropriate, it also recognises a continuing role for special schools. Within this context, the HSE envisages that children attending special needs primary schools will have access to health supports and therapy services based on their needs.
The long term goal of this Programme is to bring consistency in service delivery and a clear pathway to services for children according to need. Implementation of the Programme will have a positive impact on the provision of clinical services for all children requiring access to health related supports, regardless of which school they attend.
