Parents want disclosure of all HSE care reviews and reports
Lorraine Dempsey of the Special Needs Parents Association said she was certain the damning 2013 report obtained by RTÉ into the handling of cases of adults with intellectual disability was only one of many secret reports raising vital issues.
“I would be sure that this is not the end of it and that there are more reports. We hear all the time in our organisation of reports being initiated that have never been published and we don’t know what becomes of them,” she said.
“I presume they sit on ministers’ desks or senior civil servants’ desks. I would like to know where that report [obtained by RTÉ] was sitting for the past three years. I’d like to know who initiated it, who saw it, and what follow-up it got.”
Ms Dempsey said a mechanism needed to be found to bring internal reports into the public domain.
“We’ll hear that these reports contain sensitive information that can’t be made public but that’s not good enough for the people with disabilities that these reports are about.
“It’s an attitude that’s very protectionist towards staff who might be implicated but what about protections for the people with disabilities?”
Ms Dempsey expressed mixed feelings about staff working in the care services who may know of serious failings in the system.
“Professionals working in the health services can only be empowered if they have good leadership above them. Those who leak reports or are whistleblowers, I have great admiration for them.
“They do it as a last resort because they tried to get something done and nobody above them listened to them and nothing happened.
“But professionals also have a responsibility to their client that where they see poor management, mismanagement, or deliberate mistreatment, they speak out promptly. When somebody stands by and lets something happen with full knowledge of what is going on, they are complicit in that action.”
Ms Dempsey said many parents would be distressed by the latest revelations, and needed reassurance they could trust care services.
“You have two groups of parents who will be deeply upset by all this. The group with adult children currently in care will be wondering if there’s something they don’t know and questions they need to ask.
“And younger parents with younger children who are looking 10 years down the line at what they do if something happens to them will be worried if they can be sure the HSE will give quality care.”
EPIC (Empowering People In Care) said they were particularly concerned for young adults transitioning from child to adult services.
The leaked report revealed that in many cases, the transfer involved no more than moving a file from one filing cabinet to another, without any checks being done on the person in this new phase of their life.
EPIC director Jennifer Gargan said: “We are gravely concerned about the vulnerabilities of young people with disabilities living in State care.” She said every child with a disability should have a statutory right to an independent advocate to ensure their voice was heard and needs addressed.
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