Therapists 'regret' HSE's new Assessment of Need model for vulnerable children

Psychologists and therapists have railed against fresh moves by the HSE to introduce a new Assessment of Need (AON) model for children, two years after a row over the issue first blew up.

The Psychological Society of Ireland (PSI), the Association of Occupational Therapists and the Irish Association of Speech and Language Therapists issued a joint statement outlining their "regret" that the HSE implemented new processes last month, and asked the HSE to pause that process.

Almost two years ago the PSI, which has almost 3,000 members, intervened after the HSE said it was going to introduce a new screening process as part of the Assessment of Need (AON), which is supposed to allow children to be diagnosed and then apply for resources. The PSI argued that it could lead to wrong diagnoses.

The older system was already the subject of a number of court judicial reviews after families claimed the HSE was not meeting its statutory requirements on AON, namely that the AON commences within three months of the application, and that it then be completed within another three months, including the furnishing of all relevant reports regarding what resources would then be required for the child.

Those opposed to the changes announced in 2018 claimed it would effectively allow the HSE to get around delivering the diagnostic assessment part of the process, and instead simply make recommendations regarding possible services, which are themselves subject to resources.

The trade union Forsa also got involved but the matter was never fully resolved, despite the publication last year of a report by the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Health on the New Standard Operating Procedure for Assessment of Need under the Disability Act 2005.

All three representative bodies said they had hoped this report would form the basis of a HSE revision of the first proposed Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) "so that the HSE would meet its obligations under the Disability Act and not dilute professional standards of assessment for vulnerable children in need".

"It is with a great sense of regret from each of our representative bodies that the HSE has, despite our clearly articulated concerns, implemented a new Assessment of Need (AON) SOP on January 14, 2020," they said. "This new SOP does not address the recommendations of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Health or the concerns of each of our respective professional bodies."

All three organisations reiterated their support for the recommendations made in the Oireachtas Committee report, including that early intervention programmes be adequately resourced to meet the needs of this vulnerable population in a timely manner.

"To date, this has not occurred, and vulnerable children continue to languish on excessively long waiting lists due to adequate resourcing not been made available," they said.