HSE slated over child protection ‘failings’
In its report following inspection of the home in Co Waterford, the Social Services Inspectorate said the allegations had been made in June 2006 by the social work department of the HSE South, but not passed on to gardaí by the child protection notification team until August 2006.
The inspectorate said this was “not consistent with Children First national guidelines for the protection of children”.
Inspectors recommended the child protection notification system in the local HSE area be reviewed “as a matter of urgency”.
Inspectors said the delay in addressing the allegations was partly due to the mistaken belief that gardaí would not investigate until a formal complaint was made by the victim rather than the HSE when a child is in care. A statement from the HSE said the child to whom the complaint related was not a resident in the unit when the alleged incident took place but was placed in care as a result of it.
The statement said a comprehensive assessment was undertaken by the social work team in relation to the allegation, the matter was then referred to the HSE’s child protection notification team and subsequently the gardaí. Since then [November 2006], the HSE has changed procedures to ensure gardaí are notified at the onset and not after a HSE assessment has concluded.
Inspectors also had concerns about the placement of a 10-year-old child in the home where adolescents with “extremely challenging and disturbing behaviour had a profoundly negative impact on him”.
The inspectorate said he was exposed to inappropriate and highly threatening behaviour and bullied to such an extent that he was removed from the centre and placed in the satellite unit on his own.
Inspectors urged HSE managers to give priority to finding a more suitable safe placement for the child.
In the three months prior to inspection, there were 84 notifications of significant incidents that reflected staff difficulties in managing behaviour. Inspectors said: “There was a high level of threats of physical violence, and sexualised verbal abuse [by the adolescents] directed mainly at female staff. There was no effective sanctions system and at times staff lost control of the group.”
Eventually, gardaí accepted an invitation to visit the centre and met with some of the young people to reinforce the potential criminal consequences of their behaviour. Inspectors were told that there had been a marked improvement in behaviour since then.
Overall, however, the inspectors found the centre was managed well and children were positive about the care they received.
