<p>
	The HSE failed to process as many as 2,500 applications from parents to have their children&rsquo;s needs assessed on foot of a disability &mdash; despite a legal requirement to do so within six months writes Catherine Shanahan.</p>
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<p>
	Of 5,818 applications in 2015, just 3,318 (less than 60%) had assessments completed. Under the 2005 Disability Act, the assessments must be completed within six months. However, just 1,035 were conducted within this timeframe.</p>
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<p>
	In fact, &ldquo;some&rdquo; of the 1,035 required an extended timeframe due to &ldquo;exceptional circumstances&rdquo;, the HSE said, as permitted under the regulations.</p>
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<p>
	The delays are against a backdrop of recognition by the Government and the HSE of the importance of early intervention in improving outcomes for children with a disability.</p>
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<p>
	The upshot for parents is that thousands are paying privately for assessments and vital follow-up therapies that should be available in the public system.</p>
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<p>
	Moreover, no follow-up services such as speech and language therapy or occupational therapy have been available since last November to children assessed as having a need, according to autism charity Shine.</p>
<p>
	&nbsp;</p>
<p>
	Shine chief executive Kieran Kennedy said the system was &ldquo;gone beyond crisis&rdquo; to &ldquo;broken&rdquo;, and that without an assessment and potential diagnosis, parents &ldquo;had no baseline from which to measure if their children were making any progress&rdquo;.</p>
<p>
	&nbsp;</p>
<p>
	&ldquo;The Government and the HSE both say early intervention is the key for a child&rsquo;s development, but they are only paying lip service to this,&rdquo; Mr Kennedy said.</p>
<p>
	&nbsp;</p>
<p>
	Shine&rsquo;s figures show a dramatic increase in numbers resorting to a private diagnosis for children under five. In 2014, the figure was 107; between January 1 and October this year, the figure is 216. Private diagnoses can cost from several hundred euro to more than &euro;1,000.</p>
<p>
	&nbsp;</p>
<p>
	The HSE did not provide a direct answer when asked if follow-up services were unavailable since last November to children assessed as having a need.</p>
<p>
	&nbsp;</p>
<p>
	It said it was &ldquo;reconfiguring existing therapy resources into geographic-based Children&rsquo;s Disability Network Teams&rdquo;.</p>
<p>
	&nbsp;</p>
<p>
	In relation to failure to meet statutory timeframes in conducting assessments of need, the HSE said it &ldquo;recognises that it faces significant challenges in respect of meeting the statutory time-frames&rdquo; and that while any delay is &ldquo;not desirable&rdquo; it &ldquo;should not be interpreted as meaning that the child is necessarily waiting for necessary, identified interventions&rdquo;.</p>
<p>
	&nbsp;</p>
<p>
	The HSE said statutory timeframes do not always afford enough time to complete the assessment.</p>
<p>
	&nbsp;</p>
<p>
	&ldquo;Clinicians will often want to observe a child in various environments over a number of months before committing to a final diagnostic assessment,&rdquo; the HSE said.</p>
<p>
	&nbsp;</p>
<p>
	It said the average duration of the assessment process per report completed in 2015 was 10.4 months and that the number of applications had more than doubled since 2008.</p>
<p>
	&nbsp;</p>
<p>
	The issue of delayed assessment is unlikely to be resolved anytime soon as the number of applications continues to rise. In the first half of 2016, 3,082 applications were received indicating that more than 6,000 will be received by year end. The number of assessment reports completed for children with Autism Spector Disorder in 2015 was 582, up from 422 in 2012.</p>
<p>
	&nbsp;</p>
<p>
	Under the Disability Act, any child born after June 1, 2002, presenting with a possible disability is entitled to have their needs assessed. The HSE said even though it had experienced an increased demand for assessment of autism, &ldquo;we cannot be sure that this is a result of increased prevalence&rdquo;.</p>
<p>
	&nbsp;</p>
<p>
	Meanwhile, four out of five challenges to assessments conducted by the HSE of children suspected of having a disability are made by parents living in Cork.</p>
<p>
	&nbsp;</p>
<p>
	The latest annual report of the Office of the Disability Appeals Officer shows cases involving children from Cork accounted for 80% of complaints in 2015.</p>
<p>
	&nbsp;</p>
<p>
	(Published by the Irish Examiner on the 21st November 2016)</p>
<p>
	<a href="http://www.irishexaminer.com/breakingnews/ireland/hse-fails-to-assess-2500-kids-for-disability-765024.html">http://www.irishexaminer.com/breakingnews/ireland/hse-fails-to-assess-2500-kids-for-disability-765024.html</a></p>
