‘Shameful’ lack of staff: Parents at wits’ end over access to disability services

A CORK TD has criticised what he described as a “shameful” lack of staff in Children’s Disability Network Teams (CDNTs) in Cork, as 31% of posts are currently unfilled.

Figures from Cork Kerry Community Healthcare (CKCH) show that all of the various disciplines involved in the Cork teams were understaffed as of the end of January.

Cork North Central Sinn Féin TD Thomas Gould sought details of the number of whole -time equivalent (WTE) staff in Cork CDNTs and the number considered a full cohort.

The figures showed 271.87 WTE posts have been approved for the 11 Cork CDNTs and that 185.96 were in place.

“Some of these [disciplines] are chronically understaffed — therapy assistants, for example, have a vacancy rate of 95%,” said Mr Gould.

“The whole purpose of CDNTs is to provide holistic, multi-disciplinary care for vulnerable children. This cannot be done when... roles are vacant. How can staff be expected to provide the vital interventions they are trained for with this level of vacancy? They are trying their absolute best, but this situation is only getting worse.”

A CDNT provides specialised support and services for children aged from birth to 18 years who have a disability, and complex health needs associated with that disability.

Teams include a range of professionals from various disciplines including physiotherapy, occupational therapy, speech and language therapy, and psychology.

Mr Gould said parents of children with disabilities are extremely frustrated over delays in accessing services.

“Parents are at their wits’ end,” he said. “They tell me that every single day is a battle for services and support for their children. They know that the failure to properly resource children’s disability services is having a detrimental impact on their children’s development.”

A spokesperson for Cork Kerry Community Healthcare told The Echo that CKCH “deeply regrets any delays for children and their families awaiting initial contact with the Children’s Disability Network Team (CDNT)”.

“We understand the difficulty and stress this can cause for children and their families, and we are working to address these delays.

“The HSE and its Section 38 and Section 39 lead agencies are operating in a very competitive global market for healthcare talent as there are significant shortages of qualified healthcare professionals across the globe.

“There is an average vacancy rate of 23% across all 11 CDNTs in Cork, with some CDNTs experiencing higher vacancy rates than others.

“CDNT services in Cork are provided by Section 38 and Section 39 agencies. While Section 38 agencies [Brothers of Charity Services and Cope Foundation] have been impacted by the HSE recruitment pause, Section 39 agencies [St Joseph’s Foundation, Enable Ireland, and CoAction] continue to run local recruitment campaigns.

“In addition, CKCH are currently working with National Recruitment Services as part of the HSE national recruitment CDNT targeted recruitment campaign to fill therapy vacancies in Cork and Kerry.”