Emergency care plan for children not to be affected

LONG-DELAYED plans to introduce 24-hour emergency care for at-risk children won’t be affected by the current recruitment freeze, say HSE bosses.

But it has already been two-and-a-half years since the tragedy that prompted calls for the service and it will be at least several months before services are up and running.

The after-hours cover was pledged to be set up in response to the amount of murder-suicide cases involving parents and their children in recent years.

Meanwhile, it has emerged the HSE break-even policy has also delayed prevention training for suicide resource officers because of a ban on booking external venues for the courses.

The proposal to add an after-hours social work cover service to the existing 9-5, Monday-Friday system currently in operation in most parts of the country was due to be discussed in detail with unions and other stakeholders this month.

A working group examining the issue was set up in response to an incident at Catt’s Strand in Wexford in April of 2005, when Sharon Grace, 28, drowned her daughters Mikahla, 4, and Abby, 3, and herself.

However, the HSE’s financial clampdown has meant that it could be many months before any 24-hour regime is introduced, because of the need for extra social workers.

Impact, which represents many of the staff involved in the delivery of community care, claims the HSE’s current financial regime looks likely to impact on the eventual implementation of the 24-hour service.

“There are recommendations there about proposed additional hours. With the recruitment freeze in place, realistically none of these can be progressed,” said Impact spokesman Niall Shanahan yesterday.

More meetings are due to take place, but it is likely to be the new year before any practical steps can be taken towards providing the emergency care, he said. Mr Shanahan stressed all parties “are keen to progress this”.

The talks between the HSE and other interested parties follow the completion of a report by the national working group set up last year and comprising representatives from the gardaí, the HSE and homeless support group, Focus Ireland.

The HSE said yesterday the working group’s report has been adopted and is the subject of discussions with Impact and the Department of Health and Children.

“It is not envisaged that the recruitment pause will affect the timetable for introducing the service, since in the interim these discussions are proceeding and detailed project planning continues,” a spokesman said.

Calls for the implementation of a round-the-clock care service by the HSE were renewed this year after the bodies of Adrian and Ciara Dunne and their daughters Shania and Lean were found in a bungalow in Monageer, Co Wexford, in April, following another murder-suicide.

Meanwhile, suicide prevention training has been hit by the HSE cutbacks. Fine Gael health spokesman Dr James Reilly has complained about suicide resource officers being told by HSE authorities not to book venues for new training courses aimed at processionals and described as “meaningless” the Government’s commitment to reducing suicide rates.

A HSE spokeswoman confirmed yesterday that delays may have been experienced in providing such courses. Staff have been told not to book hotels for training, but to find venues within HSE structures such as meeting rooms or training rooms. Courses were still going ahead, she said. “They might have been postponed for a couple of weeks, but not cancelled.”