More than 750 children in Cork overdue an assessment of needs 

MORE than 750 children in Cork were overdue an assessment of needs under the Disability Act 2005 by the end of March this year.

The figures have prompted calls for intervention to address the backlog, with Cork Kerry Community Healthcare saying it has engaged private providers who can provide additional assessments.

An assessment of needs (AON) is a two-stage statutory process carried out by the HSE to identify the health and education needs of children who may have a disability.

At the end of the first quarter of the year, there were 765 children overdue for completion of AONs across the four Cork Local Health Office areas within the Cork Kerry Community Health Organisation (CHO) region.

In the Cork North Lee LHO, 388 children were overdue completion of their assessments on March 31.

That figure was higher than the combined total number of children, 377, who were overdue completion of their assessments in the three other Cork LHOs.

Cork North had the second-highest number of children awaiting completion of their AONs, 192, while Cork South Lee had 161 and Cork West had 24.

Overdue 

The HSE defines stage 1 of the process as “an initial desktop assessment that determines the type of assessment needed by each child”, while it says the AON “commences at stage 2 when the assessment officer arranges the clinical assessment”.

The first stage of the process is to be completed within three months, with three months also provided for the second stage.

Of the 765 children overdue for completion of their AONs in Cork during the first quarter of this year, the HSE said 22 cases were overdue because of “exceptional circumstances”, but in 743 cases the HSE said there were no exceptional circumstances causing the delay.

A total of 81 children were waiting for less than one month, while 105 were waiting between one and three months, and 579 were waiting for more than three months for completion of their AONs.

The greatest number of children waiting for more than three months for completion of their assessments at the end of March, 297, were in the Cork North Lee LHO.

There were 31 children overdue to commence stage 2 of their AONs in Cork in the first quarter of this year, with nine overdue by less than one month, nine overdue by one to three months, and 13 overdue by more than three months.

The greatest number of children awaiting stage 2 of their assessments, 18, were in the Cork North Lee LHO.

New applications 

The HSE received 332 new AON applications in Cork during the first three months of 2024, against 262 in the last quarter of 2023.

In the first quarter, 220 reports were completed in the Cork LHOs, from which 42 children, or 20%, were deemed to have no disability, and 178 were found to have a disability under the act.

Nationally, the HSE completed 849 AON reports in the first three months of this year, and a breakdown of the reports shows that 339 children, or 40%, were diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, while 188, or 22%, were found to have no disability.

A further 181 children, or 21%, were diagnosed with “multiple” disabilities, while 89, or 11%, were deemed “no category specified at this stage”.

Among the other categories represented were mental health, intellectual, and specific learning disabilities.

'HSE failing to meet challenges'

Pádraig O’Sullivan, Fianna Fáil TD for Cork North-Central, said it was clear to him that the HSE was failing to meet the challenges before it.

“In 2021, significant additional investment was provided to tackle the backlogs that were there at that time, and I think it is appropriate that such an intervention would be considered once more to help keep pace with the demand for assessments,” said Mr O’Sullivan.

Thomas Gould, Sinn Féin TD for Cork North-Central, said more action is needed, saying: “The State has a legal obligation to provide children with an assessment of need in the timeline set out in legislation. That is not a target, it is a requirement.”

He said it is “harrowing to hear stories of parents and families forced to fight tooth and nail for their children’s most basic rights”.

A spokesperson for the HSE in Cork and Kerry said they regretted that any child was waiting for three months for an AON.

“Cork Kerry Community Healthcare has engaged with private providers who can provide additional clinical assessments,” the spokesperson said.

“This will help to address the current delays in AON.”

The spokesperson noted that the AON process does not provide any access to intervention.

They also noted that individuals do not need to get an AON to access HSE services and that people can apply directly to services outside of the AON process.