Therapists reinstated in special schools from September

An agreement has been reached with the HSE which will see therapists in special schools from September. 

Therapists are to be reinstated in special schools from September after an agreement has finally been reached with the HSE.

In a move that will be welcomed by parents, children with disabilities will now be able to access support, including physiotherapy and speech and language therapy, in school after significant discussions between the HSE, the Taoiseach, and six other Government ministers.

Therapists were removed from schools to allow for the rollout of the new Progressing Disability Services (PDS) plan.

PDS was meant to reorganise how children and their families’ access and receive clinical disability services, and provide a fairer pathway to clinical supports, through the establishment of new Children’s Disability Network Teams (CDNTs) in communities across the country.

However, HSE data shows that more than 60,000 children were on waiting lists for occupational therapy, physiotherapy, and speech and language assessment and therapy at the end of May this year.

More than 16,000 of these children had been waiting more than a year for services.

Disabilities Minister Anne Rabbitte has admitted that the new system is "simply not delivering for children".

Ms Rabbitte and her officials have been in discussions with the HSE in recent months to transfer therapists back into schools and a plan has now been signed off on.

The 136 whole-time equivalent posts will require funding of just under €11.5m which will be found from other savings for this year but will require further funding in Budget 2023 as part of a wider investment in disability services.

The therapists will be reinstated to provide care across more than 100 special schools around the country.

Six new schools will also be allocated therapist resources, including the purpose-built Carrigaline Community Special School in Cork which opened last year.

The therapists will be recruited and allocated in three phases, with one-third of the posts being filled ahead of the opening of schools in September. This will require local discussion to determine which CDNTs have capacity to redeploy around 44 staff to these roles as quickly as possible.

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A further one-third will be in place by November, with the final 44 posts expected to be filled by the end of the year through a range of targeted recruitment measures.

Reinstating on-site supports in special schools will require approximately 32 occupational therapists, 37 speech and language therapists, and 22 physiotherapists.

However, it is understood that the agreement will see these therapists continue to provide some level of service in the community as well as their work in special schools.

The local CDNTs will now engage with individual school principals to put the required therapists in place as quickly as possible.

There are significant numbers of vacancies in therapy roles across the HSE which has hampered the full roll-out of the new PDS model.

The HSE is due to launch a number of high-profile international campaigns over the next three weeks for occupational therapy, speech and language therapy and physiotherapy in a bid to recruit more staff.

However, it is understood that the HSE has warned that these candidates will require periods of clinical adaption before they can practice in this country.