08/08/2008
HSE Abandons 'Out Of Hours' Emergency Child Care
Proposed budget cuts by the Health Service Executive could lead to troubled teens being effectively 'left out in the cold' by care agencies.
Their planned 'out-of-hours' social care service for troubled children have now been abandoned by the HSE due to spending cuts.
This is in spite of highly publicised plans for social care teams, which would be on call 24-hours a day, and a national call centre, were at an "advanced stage" before the proposal was axed.
Indeed, the move comes less than a month after the HSE was heavily criticised by the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors (AGSI) after a 15-year-old boy, described as "very vulnerable", had to spend the night on a camp bed in a Cork garda station because social workers could not be contacted on emergency phone numbers.
This week, an HSE spokesperson confirmed the plans were not going ahead. "The HSE is no longer pursuing the plan and we have told (the trade union) Impact that we can't go ahead," the spokesperson added.
"Funding has been refused. We were told (the situation) in the last few weeks and the plans are no longer progressing."
The Ombudsman for Children, Emily Logan, had also recommended the creation of a 24-hour social welfare service to both the Government and the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child and a report launched last week by the office of the Minister for Children pointed to serious deficiencies in child protection, with a lack of support services such as out of hours services for crisis cases.
(BMcC)
Their planned 'out-of-hours' social care service for troubled children have now been abandoned by the HSE due to spending cuts.
This is in spite of highly publicised plans for social care teams, which would be on call 24-hours a day, and a national call centre, were at an "advanced stage" before the proposal was axed.
Indeed, the move comes less than a month after the HSE was heavily criticised by the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors (AGSI) after a 15-year-old boy, described as "very vulnerable", had to spend the night on a camp bed in a Cork garda station because social workers could not be contacted on emergency phone numbers.
This week, an HSE spokesperson confirmed the plans were not going ahead. "The HSE is no longer pursuing the plan and we have told (the trade union) Impact that we can't go ahead," the spokesperson added.
"Funding has been refused. We were told (the situation) in the last few weeks and the plans are no longer progressing."
The Ombudsman for Children, Emily Logan, had also recommended the creation of a 24-hour social welfare service to both the Government and the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child and a report launched last week by the office of the Minister for Children pointed to serious deficiencies in child protection, with a lack of support services such as out of hours services for crisis cases.
(BMcC)
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