Vital child services slashed
Dublin People 11 Feb 2012
AN EARLY
intervention centre in Dublin 15 that caters for children under five with
developmental delays and disabilities has been forced to severerly curtail
vital services due to the health recruitment embargo.
The centre on the Navan Road is operating with a
skeleton staff and can only provide services to the most needy and vulnerable
children because workers on maternity leave or carrer breaks can’t be replaced
under the embargo.
Northside People can reveal that the centre, which
should provide occupational therapy, speech and language therapy, physiotherapy
and psychological support, is now only offering the bare minimum of services to
children because the staffing level has been depleted so dramatically.
It’s understood that the centre previously had at
least seven staff but that could be reduced to as few as two later this year.
A mother of a four-year-old boy, who has been
attending the centre since last year because of developmental issues, told
Northside People that he’s now only being offered a course in handwriting.
“My son was assessed a number of times to establish
whether he was eligible for the services and by the time he was it was
identified that his development was about a year behind what it should be,
?
explained the mother, who didn’t want to be named.
“Through play-based activities he had been receiving
speech and language, psychological and physiotherapy support and there was a
noticeable improvement.
“The staff would also show us how we could work with
our children at home.
“Then it all began to change in September last year
when we were notified that one of the two speech and language specialists had
been promoted.
“Since then two staff members have been on maternity
leave, with another staff member due to go on maternity leave in the coming
months, so we’ll be left with pretty much nothing because their vacancies won’t
be refilled.
?
According to the anxious mother, the staffing
difficulties at the centre is having a detrimental impact on hundreds of
children.
“We waited so long to get our children in the system
and now the services aren’t available because of the unwaivering recruitment
embargo,
? she stated.
“It now means that 300 vulnerable children are
effectively back in the community with problems which won’t benefit anyone in
the long-run.
?
To qualify for the services of the early intervention
team on the Navan Road, a child must live in the Dublin North West Area,
require at least two kinds of therapy and be referred to the service by a
healthcare professional.
It’s understood that the waiting list for the service
had been 18 months but that has now increased greatly due to the curtailed
staffing level at the centre.
Local TD Patrick Nulty (Lab) said insult was added to
injury for parents when the Government showed that it could exercise
flexibility when it comes to the recruitment embargo because senior positions
within An Garda Siochana were filled.
“This is another exceptional situation which could be
detrimental to the development of so many children in the North West of
Dublin,
? he told Northside People.
“The early intervention team based on the Navan Road
is a key support to young people and their families in Dublin 15 who experience
learning difficulties. It’s scandalous.
?
Deoputy Nulty said he had requested a meeting with
representatives from the HSE to discuss the matter but had not received a
satisfactory response to the request.
A spokesperson for the Health Service Executive
confirmed that the staffing level at the centre had been reduced.
“Throughout last year a number of staff vacancies have
arisen in this area,
? he stated.
“Physiotherapy staff are shared between the EIT (early
intervention team) and community paediatrics. There are no additional resources
for either service.
“At present there is just one physiotherapist
remaining and she divides her time equally between EIT and community
paediatrics.
“Two members of staff are on maternity leave and a
career break.
“A similar situation has occurred with the speech and
language therapy service.
?
The spokesperson confirmed that the moratorium on
recruitment in the public services, introduced by the Government in mid-2009,
meant that the vacant posts at the centre remain unfilled.
“As a result waiting times for our services have
lengthened,
? he stated.
“We fully recognise the frustration of parents caused
by these waiting times.
?
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