Vulnerable children and families face long delays in getting child protection and welfare services in the south-east.
In a new report, the health watchdog says waiting lists in Waterford and Wexford need improvement.
Hiqa says many children and families didn't get a prompt service when they needed it.
It says a high number of staff vacancies are impacting on the service, including ten vacant social work posts.
HIQA conducted a thematic inspection of the child protection and welfare service in the Waterford/Wexford over four days in August 2020. This themed inspection aimed to assess compliance with the national standards relating to managing referrals from receipt to the point of completing an initial assessment.
Of the six standards assessed, two were compliant, two were substantially compliant and two were partially compliant.
Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, says it notes the publication of the HIQA report and that it acknowledged many positive aspects of the child protection and welfare service in Waterford and Wexford including:
- Children were very complimentary about their experience with social workers, and parents spoke highly about social workers that worked with their families
- The service promoted child-centred interventions, and representing the voice of the child throughout the service was a priority
- There were plans in place to reduce waiting lists within the service
- When a child was provided with a service, this was of good quality and effective at ensuring their safety
- The area manager and the management team provided strong leadership, and overall decision-making within the service area was collaborative
- All staff recruited had the required qualifications and competencies to perform within their roles
- Promoting a quality improvement agenda was a key theme throughout planning in all services and teams in the area
- Good quality assessments were factual and objective.
Commenting on the report, Vincent Daly, Area Manager, Waterford/Wexford said: "We are pleased that the area was, overall, found by the inspectors to have good levels of compliance with the standards assessed. We are wholly committed to making our child protection and welfare services even stronger, and indeed this inspection highlighted that there was a sense that the service area is making continuous progress.
"Staff in the area are committed to achieving the very best outcomes for children and families, and we have a good relationship with the community and with our partners in community services. We are undertaking many initiatives to recruit and retain social work staff and additional staff will take up positions this month. We will continue to make further improvements in the months ahead to ensure that children and families in Waterford and Wexford continue to receive timely and effective services."
