More than 700 vacancies in children’s disability services

More than a third of the 2,100 posts in the State’s child disability services were unfilled last year, according to an unpublished Health Service Executive report.

The number of posts last year was 2,102, an increase of 11 per cent since 2021. The number of filled posts was 1,395 of which 1,183 were in a therapy or clinical role, with the remainder in administrative or management roles. The number of vacant posts was 707, according to the report.

The number of therapy hours available to children nationally dropped by five per cent, or 60,000 hours, last year. The total therapy hours available nationally in 2022 was 1,135,334. The number of therapy hours reduced in eight of the State’s nine community healthcare areas, the report shows.

Unfilled posts

The Families Unite For Services and Support (Fuss) lobby group said it was appalled to learn that more than a third of the approved posts within child disability services were unfilled at the end of last year — up from 28 per cent to 34 per cent since 2021.

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Parents held several protests last year to highlight long waiting times for access to services, with some reporting a two- to three-year wait for appointments.

Fuss founder member Rachel Martin said the approval of 210 extra posts last year was meaningless given that so many posts from 2021 had yet to be filled. “The figures show that the State continues to fail our most vulnerable children,” she said.

The Health reconfigured services for children with disabilities in recent years, forming 91 Children’s Disability Network Teams (CDNT) across nine community healthcare organisations.

The report is based on a “census and workforce review of all staff working in the CDNTs and a review of all vacant posts” which was carried out by the HSE on October 12th, 2022.

A breakdown of the figures shows that 40 per cent of approved occupational therapy positions were vacant last year while the vacancy rate for speech and language therapy was 36 per cent. Meanwhile, 39 per cent of approved psychologists’ roles were unfilled and the vacancy rate for physiotherapists was 38 per cent. The discipline with the highest vacancy rate was dieticians at 71 per cent but that was out of just 27 approved posts.

Recruitment problems

As part of the census and workforce review, the reasons for vacancies were recorded. While 444 vacant positions were described as “unfilled posts” another 71 were attributed to paid maternity leave, and just under 20 were due to sick leave for more than three months, a rise of 62 per cent on the previous year.

Ms Martin said this reflected the recruitment and retention challenges within the sector.

In a statement last night, the HSE said everyone working in the organisation was aware of the importance of children’s disability services and early intervention.

“It is not acceptable to have to wait an extended time for either an assessment of your child’s needs or therapy that would help your child and your family,” a spokesman said.

He said the HSE was running recruitment campaigns for staff-grade occupational therapists, physiotherapists, and speech and language therapists.