Surprise at HSE move on children at risk

CHILDREN’S groups, trade unions and Garda associations have reacted with surprise at news the Health Service Executive is privatising the out-of-hours placement service for children.

While many of the groups have given a “guarded welcome” to any improvement in the situation, some have raised concerns about the limitations of the scheme and the speed with which it is being set up.

The HSE put up a notice for tender to run an Emergency Place of Safety Service on the Government procurement website on November 14. It set the closing date for November 27 and said it wanted to start the scheme by December.

The development follows the decision by the HSE last August to suspend the expansion of its out-of-hours service outside Dublin because of Government cutbacks. This decision was strongly criticised and followed calls for a nationwide service following a number of tragedies involving the deaths of children.

A HSE spokeswoman said: “At the moment, An Garda use section 12 of the Childcare Act to take children into care. The proposed place of safety service is designed to ensure that when gardaí exercise their powers, they have an appropriate place to take the children.”

Under the contract, the winning company will provide ten “strategically situated places of safety” (foster families) outside Dublin (Dublin has a HSE service).

IMPACT, the trade union representing social care staff, said it had not even been told about the development.

“The whole thing seems extraordinarily rushed. The closing date for tender applications is November 27, and the HSE want the service (which is essentially a home fostering service run by the service provider) up and running by December. This does not seem feasible.

“We are concerned about this for a number of reasons: the lack of transparency first of all and the child protection issues that this raises.”

Norah Gibbons of Barnardos welcomed the fact that fewer children would be spending nights in Garda stations or hospitals. But she questioned what social worker back-up the HSE would be providing and said it seemed gardaí would be still left to pick up the pieces after 5pm.

The Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors was also surprised at the development, but would welcome any improvement and also said any scheme would have be legally sound.

Jillian van Turnhout of the Children’s Rights Alliance was “happy” the HSE was taking steps to help families at risk, but there would have to be clear protocols between the HSE and gardaí.

It is not clear if the gardaí have been consulted about the move. The HSE spokes-woman said: “The HSE is in contact with the Garda authorities on a range of matters and following completion of the tender process, full details of the proposed scheme will be discussed with the Garda authorities. All decisions in this regard will be taken in the best interest of the child.”