Contingency plans are in place in Donegal to manage the impact of current vacancies within Children’s Disability Network Teams in the county.
Dermot Monaghan, Chief Officer for the Community Healthcare Organisation governing Donegal confirmed in response to Councillor Albert Doherty at yesterday’s Regional Health Forum meeting that contingency plans are based on the prioritised needs of children.
Contingency plan measures in place among the three CDNT teams in Donegal include; caseloads for Physiotherapy, Occupational Therapy and Speech & Language Therapy being prioritised, managers with appropriate clinical qualifications and experience who are registered with the appropriate professional body are providing clinical services while initial screenings and reviews of priority needs are being carried out monthly.
Other measures include, Disability Act Assessment of Need assessments, Autism diagnostic assessments and/or cognitive assessments are being outsourced where appropriate, children who are school starters are prioritised so that CDNT assessments can be completed to allow the child’s school to apply for educational supports and a Behaviour Therapist has been employed to support requirements in this area arising from Psychology vacancies.
Agency staff have also been employed, drop in clinics have been set up, group work offered and staff overtime offered.
Dermot Monaghan says an action plan to further develop bespoke measures to attract staff into CDNT posts is being progressed.
