Latest news with #AONs
The Journal
02-07-2025
- Health
- The Journal
HSE chief admits waiting lists for assessments for children with disabilities will get worse
THE HEAD OF the Health Service Executive (HSE) has said he is 'hugely' concerned at growing waiting lists for disabled children seeking vital health assessments, and admitted the crisis will get worse. Bernard Gloster acknowledged a 'significant challenge' in tackling the crisis, with more than 15,000 children with serious disabilities waiting to access their legal right to assessments. When asked if the crisis was 'going to get worse before it got better', Gloster said 'yes'. 'Until we get extra capacity and until we reform the legislation, we are going to be challenged,' the HSE chief said. 'It would be very wrong of me to say anything different to people across the country, it would be untruthful to do that,' he told reporters in Limerick. The HSE predicts that the children's assessment waiting lists will increase to beyond 25,000 by the end of this year. After meeting Cara Daramody, a fourteen year old campaigner for the rights of children with disabilities, Gloster pledged that the HSE will advertise tenders for assessments to the private clinicians, to try and tackle the problem. Prior to the meeting, Cara Darmody, accompanied by her father Mark Darmody, called out the government via the HSE for breaching current legislation requiring it to provide health and education needs assessments for children with disabilities. Ms Darmody said children had been left to 'rot' on the waiting lists and urged Gloster to act fast to rescue the waiting list backlog for the vital assessments. Ms Darmody, who led a 50-hour protest outside the Dail last month highlighting the crisis, said she gave Gloster 'crucial information that totally contradicts the myth that capacity has been reached in the system in relation to the number of psychologists available to assess autistic children'. She said that she also informed the HSE chief that she is aware of 'private' clinicians who have sought to help reduce assessment waiting lists but who have been delayed in doing so by bureaucracy. Bernard Gloster pictured with activist Cara Darmody and her father Mark. Brendan Gleeson Brendan Gleeson Ms Darmody claimed she knows of at least one private clinician who could have 'eradicated' the AON waiting list in her home county of Tipperary county over the last 12 months, by performing an additional 220 AONs, had they been given the opportunity. She said the clinician had applied for a HSE Assessment Tender last October, 'but only got confirmation a month ago' that they had been accepted. Ms Darmody questioned 'why in the middle of a national crisis did it take eight months', and she accused the government of not acting fast enough on the waiting lists. Advertisement Gloster said this evening he was 'taken aback' at the details presented to him by Cara Darmody and Mark Darmody. Commentating on the alleged eight-month wait for the provision of the assessment tender, Gloster said: 'I have to say, it can happen, we are a very big organisation and we have to have rules and systems, and they, by their nature, can become bureaucratic.' 'I'm the first to put my hands up and say, that's for us to do better.' 'I don't think that my own people are doing anything bad or wrong, but it is for us to better, we are paid public servants and Cara and her Dad are not.' Gloster said, going forward, he would try to 'tighten the timeline' on assessment tenders applications by the private sector. He acknowledged that 'in the short-term' the HSE required 'help' from the private system to help reduce the assessment waiting lists. 'In the next few weeks we are going to redesign the specification of private sector provision to help us provide assessment of need,' Gloster said. 'We are going to widely advertise and promote it, so that if there are suitably qualified clinicians who can conduct an assessment of need, and who are qualified and registered to do so, and are safe to do so, then there will be no issue with us using that additional capacity,' he said. 'Even if it possibly reduced the timeline for a couple of hundred (children), then it would be a really productive thing.' Gloster said: 'If you apply for an assessment of need, you are entitled to it in law, you should be able to get it.' The Limerick health service boss said other 'challenges' existed beyond the assessments, including timelines over children's access to 'therapeutic support and intervention'. 'The amount of therapists we have in Ireland that are available to us is limited, but the government are making some really good interventions to increase the supply,' he said. Gloster said that Cara and Mark Darmody's 'anecdotal evidence' of a possible reduction in the waiting lists may exist in the private system, their arguments to investigate it further was 'legitimate and appropriate'. Gloster acknowledged that it had been 'a while' since the HSE had 'updated' its 'framework' of assessment providers, 'so, therefore, there is nothing to loose and everything to gain' by investigating potential capacity in the private system. 'If (it is) proven that there is capacity out there that isn't being used, we'll be delighted that more that can be done, because it means that we can immediately enter into arrangements with professionals to buy additional services to support our own (services),' Mr Gloster said. Ms Darmody described their meeting as 'extremely successful'. 'I got what I wanted from the meeting, which was for Mr Gloster to look into the issue and to start looking for solutions nationally, and in my own county Tipperary, and possibly internationally,' Ms Darmody said. Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone... A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article. Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation. Learn More Support The Journal
Irish Independent
18-06-2025
- Health
- Irish Independent
HSE ‘hasn't a hope' of complying with the law on assessment of needs, chief executive says
Mr Gloster, along with other representatives from the HSE, was before the Disability Committee on Wednesday to discuss disability services. During the meeting, Mr Gloster told committee members that the law around AONs needed reform. Specifically he said reform should focus on the purpose of the assessments rather than amending timelines or the AONs themselves. 'My contribution to that conversation has been more about ensuring that the legislation defines the purpose of the assessment and enables access to it, rather than it being a catch-all for everything in the state,' Mr Gloster said. He added that the way the law is currently means the HSE cannot comply with current legislation and that the health service needed to be honest with families. 'We have to accept and be honest with people,' Mr Gloster told the committee. 'The way the issue has evolved over the years, the way demand has changed, the way other things have happened and other things haven't happened, we haven't a hope of being compliant with the law the way it currently stands.' The HSE chief said that he believed a third of children referred for an AON should not have been referred and that parents and children were being pushed into these assessments. 'I have no doubt that despite the fact there might be a policy position that people don't need an assessment of need for certain things, they are being told they do, or they are led to believe they'll get it faster if they do,' Mr Gloster said. 'I believe about one-third of referrals to assessment of need are actually quite inappropriate.' 'At the moment, we see about one third of assessments when they're concluded that there's no sign or indication of a disability, and that would suggest people are being pushed into accessing assessment for accessing other things which they shouldn't need an assessment of need for.' ADVERTISEMENT Long waiting lists for AONs have resulted in scores of families applying to the High Court to try to force the HSE to carry out assessments on their children. The committee was told that in quarter one of this year, the HSE received 3,131 new referrals for an assessment with 1,412 referrals closed out in the same period. This, the committee heard, represented an increase in the HSE's overall capacity of 65pc based on quarter one of the year before. The HSE chief told the committee that the health service would introduce a 'single door' system for applying for assessments and that this would be introduced in October, though he expected pushback. 'I'm around an awful long time to know that it's not going to be easy. I think I'll meet professional objection to it in parts, because people will feel the system isn't ready for it. But if we don't press on with it, we'll be talking about it forever,' Mr Gloster said. Currently, families attempting to access support are often required to try multiple different services before accessing the correct supports, with parents being told they are trying the 'wrong door' Mr Gloster said. This new approach would see a triage-like system in place, where a child's application would be assessed and then they would be directed to the correct service. We're changing it to one front door, and there's no wrong door,' Mr Gloster said. 'Whether it's a GP, a teacher or a family, a child will be referred, and the combined efforts of CAMHS, disability and primary care will decide what's at least the best chance or the quickest pathway for that child to receive an appropriate response, and that will include the autism protocol.'
Belfast Telegraph
11-06-2025
- Health
- Belfast Telegraph
Teenager vows to ‘resist' any weakening of six-month timeframe for assessments
Cara Darmody, 14, addressed the Oireachtas Disability Committee on Wednesday about the backlog in the assessment of need (AON) system. An AON is carried out to identify if a child, children or young person has a disability, and is designed to identify their health needs as well as service requirements. Once the HSE receives an application, there is a legal requirement for the AON to be completed within six months. On the possibility of changes to the laws being in train, Cara said she would 'vigorously resist any negative change' to the six-month timeframe, saying she believed it would cause 'further permanent damage to children'. The total number of applications overdue for completion at the end of March 2025 stood at 15,296, an 8% rise on the end of 2024. Throughout the first quarter of this year, just 7% of assessments were completed within the timeframes set out in the Disability Act 2005 and accompanying regulations. The HSE said that demand for AONs continues to outstrip system capacity, despite increases in activity and commissions from private assessors. The health service anticipates that by the end of the year there could be as many as 24,796 AONs due for completion. Opposition parties including Sinn Fein, Labour, Social Democrats, People Before Profit-Solidarity, Independent Ireland and Aontu have supported Cara's campaign. Last month she staged a 50-hour protest outside Leinster House. She was initially motivated to pursue her advocacy because her two brothers have autism and severe/profound intellectual disabilities. Speaking at Committee, Cara said: 'My own story is very simple, I have two brothers Neil, 12, and John, eight, who are autistic and severely and profoundly intellectually disabled. 'They were both failed dramatically by the state in relation to assessments and services, and Neil remains in an inappropriate school place. 'Our story is the story of so many thousands of other families. I cannot do anything to change the permanent damage caused to Neil and John, but I can advocate to stop damage being done to autistic children in the future.' She said Taoiseach Micheal Martin and the wider Government are breaking the law over the delivery of AONs. 'Three different taoisigh have made promises to me to fix this issue, and all have dramatically failed.' She added: 'Let me explain how they're breaking the law. The Disability Act of 2005, an Act created by this House, states that an assessment of need must be carried out within six months, full-stop. 'That six-month timeframe is there because every single person knows that early intervention is the key. 'It's also generally accepted that when early intervention doesn't occur, that damage is caused to children with disabilities. It's a no-brainer.' Cara said she was shocked that Mr Martin would not declare a national emergency over the matter. She said the taoiseach should also set up a taskforce to address the matter, and increase financing for 'Cara's Fund'.
Sunday World
11-06-2025
- Health
- Sunday World
Government has ‘systematically smashed' disability laws for children, teen tells Oireachtas
Cara Darmody, 14, addressed the Oireachtas Disability Committee on Wednesday about the backlog in the assessment of need (AON) system. Campaigner Cara Darmody staged a 50-hour protest against the backlog in the assessment of needs system (Liam McBurney/PA) The Government has "systematically smashed" disability laws on important checks for children, a teenage campaigner has told the Oireachtas. Cara Darmody, 14, addressed the Oireachtas Disability Committee on Wednesday about the backlog in the assessment of need (AON) system. An AON is carried out to identify if a child, children or young person has a disability, and is designed to identify their health needs as well as service requirements. Once the HSE receives an application, there is a legal requirement for the AON to be completed within six months. On the possibility of changes to the laws being in train, Cara said she would "vigorously resist any negative change" to the six-month timeframe, saying she believed it would cause "further permanent damage to children". The total number of applications overdue for completion at the end of March 2025 stood at 15,296, an 8% rise on the end of 2024. Throughout the first quarter of this year, just 7% of assessments were completed within the timeframes set out in the Disability Act 2005 and accompanying regulations. The HSE said that demand for AONs continues to outstrip system capacity, despite increases in activity and commissions from private assessors. The health service anticipates that by the end of the year there could be as many as 24,796 AONs due for completion. Opposition parties including Sinn Féin, Labour, Social Democrats, People Before Profit-Solidarity, Independent Ireland and Aontu have supported Cara's campaign. Last month she staged a 50-hour protest outside Leinster House. She was initially motivated to pursue her advocacy because her two brothers have autism and severe/profound intellectual disabilities. Speaking at Committee, Cara said: "My own story is very simple, I have two brothers Neil, 12, and John, eight, who are autistic and severely and profoundly intellectually disabled. "They were both failed dramatically by the state in relation to assessments and services, and Neil remains in an inappropriate school place. "Our story is the story of so many thousands of other families. I cannot do anything to change the permanent damage caused to Neil and John, but I can advocate to stop damage being done to autistic children in the future." She said Taoiseach Micheal Martin and the wider Government are breaking the law over the delivery of AONs. Campaigner Cara Darmody staged a 50-hour protest against the backlog in the assessment of needs system (Liam McBurney/PA) News in 90 Seconds - June 11th "Three different taoisigh have made promises to me to fix this issue, and all have dramatically failed." She added: "Let me explain how they're breaking the law. The Disability Act of 2005, an Act created by this House, states that an assessment of need must be carried out within six months, full-stop. "That six-month timeframe is there because every single person knows that early intervention is the key. "It's also generally accepted that when early intervention doesn't occur, that damage is caused to children with disabilities. It's a no-brainer." Cara said she was shocked that Mr Martin would not declare a national emergency over the matter. She said the Taoiseach should also set up a taskforce to address the matter, and increase financing for "Cara's Fund".
Irish Independent
11-06-2025
- Health
- Irish Independent
Government has ‘systematically smashed' disability laws for children, teen campaigner tells Oireachtas
Cara Darmody, 14, addressed the Oireachtas Disability Committee on Wednesday about the backlog in the assessment of need (AON) system. An AON is carried out to identify if a child, children or young person has a disability, and is designed to identify their health needs as well as service requirements. Once the HSE receives an application, there is a legal requirement for the AON to be completed within six months. On the possibility of changes to the laws being in train, Cara said she would "vigorously resist any negative change" to the six-month timeframe, saying she believed it would cause "further permanent damage to children". The total number of applications overdue for completion at the end of March 2025 stood at 15,296, an 8% rise on the end of 2024. Throughout the first quarter of this year, just 7% of assessments were completed within the timeframes set out in the Disability Act 2005 and accompanying regulations. The HSE said that demand for AONs continues to outstrip system capacity, despite increases in activity and commissions from private assessors. The health service anticipates that by the end of the year there could be as many as 24,796 AONs due for completion. Opposition parties including Sinn Féin, Labour, Social Democrats, People Before Profit-Solidarity, Independent Ireland and Aontu have supported Cara's campaign. Last month she staged a 50-hour protest outside Leinster House. She was initially motivated to pursue her advocacy because her two brothers have autism and severe/profound intellectual disabilities. Speaking at Committee, Cara said: "My own story is very simple, I have two brothers Neil, 12, and John, eight, who are autistic and severely and profoundly intellectually disabled. "They were both failed dramatically by the state in relation to assessments and services, and Neil remains in an inappropriate school place. "Our story is the story of so many thousands of other families. I cannot do anything to change the permanent damage caused to Neil and John, but I can advocate to stop damage being done to autistic children in the future." She said Taoiseach Micheal Martin and the wider Government are breaking the law over the delivery of AONs. "Three different taoisigh have made promises to me to fix this issue, and all have dramatically failed." She added: "Let me explain how they're breaking the law. The Disability Act of 2005, an Act created by this House, states that an assessment of need must be carried out within six months, full-stop. "That six-month timeframe is there because every single person knows that early intervention is the key. "It's also generally accepted that when early intervention doesn't occur, that damage is caused to children with disabilities. It's a no-brainer." Cara said she was shocked that Mr Martin would not declare a national emergency over the matter. She said the Taoiseach should also set up a taskforce to address the matter, and increase financing for "Cara's Fund".
