A new report has highlighted the inability of Mid-Western Health Board services to respond adequately to the needs of children with challenging behaviour and with mild-learning disabilities, writes Gordon Deegan
The Health Board's 2002 Review of Childcare and Family Support Services highlights key inadequacies in vital parts of the service including the limited number of dedicated beds in residential care.
This is underlined with the continuing case of a 14-year-old Co Clare autistic boy who is facing his second Christmas in a secure adult psychiatric unit at Limerick's Regional Hospital due to the absence of suitable accommodation for the boy.
The boy was admitted to Unit 5B in September 2002 after a crisis at the family home, and last September the boy's father said that he could not see his son moving out of the unit in the next year as there were no alternatives on the horizon.
The report also acknowledged that a "key inadequacy" in its alternative care service was the recruitment and retention of child care staff in relation to its residential centres.
This problem is illustrated with the Health Board leaving a €5 million residential centre established to accommodate five troubled children unoccupied for over a year due to difficulties in recruiting staff. The Limerick-based centre became operational last September.
Another shortcoming identified "was the increasing health and safety concerns for front line staff dealing with children who display extremely challenging behaviour, particularly those who assault staff".
In relation to the region's Child Protection and Treatment Services, the report conceded "the need for resources to redress the issues identified in the evaluation of the board's childcare protection services by Prof Harry Ferguson of UCD".
The 291-page report Keeping Children Safe - Child Abuse, Child Protection and the Promotion of Welfare was published in April 2001 and recommended an overhaul of the system of dealing with child abuse. Figures in the Health Board's Child Care report record that the number of confirmed child abuse cases in the past three years has fallen by 28 per cent from 305 in 2000 to 217 in 2002.
In his executive summary accompanying the report, the regional manager for child care and disabilities, Mr James O'Grady, said: "While significant achievements were made during 2002, the board also recognises that outcome for clients were not always as satisfactory as child care personnel would desire." Mr O'Grady said that the Health Board "has protected children and supported families. However, from a more critical stance, the review acknowledges the limitations of services and the many inadequacies that urgently require attention".