Overall Process

1. Application in.
Assessment Officer

Is it complete? Acknowledge.
What happens when you apply

Consultation
2. Desk-top phase. for an Assessment of Need
Gather information. Check eligibility. Disability Act 2005

3. Clinical assessments.

4. The Assessment Report is written.

5. Forwarded to the Liaison Officer.

Liaison Officer

6. Negotiate with Service Providers.

Consultation

Write Service Statement.

7. Assessment Report and Service

Statement issued.
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8. Arrange service delivery.

Review as necessary.
This leaflet is available in Irish, Polish, French and Russian. It is also
available in easy to read, audio, braille and DVD format.
Contact the Assessment Officer in your Local Health Office.
How is my application dealt with?
When you apply for an assessment of your child’s needs an Assessment
Officer in your Local Health Office will check that your application form is
complete and send you a written acknowledgement within two weeks.
After that, the Assessment Officer will contact you to collect information and
any existing reports to help show the nature and level of difficulty
experienced by your child. The Assessment Officer will also decide which
assessments are needed and who should carry them out. The
assessments may be carried out by staff already known to you and
providing services for your child.
The Assessment Officer will arrange for the relevant assessments to be
carried out. Assessments should start within 3 months of the Assessment
Officer receiving your completed application form, unless there are
acceptable reasons for a delay, for example if your child is ill or if there are
clinical reasons for the delay.
Is the system the same for the whole country?
Certain standards have to be followed by the people doing the
assessments. This is to help make sure that, wherever you live, you can
expect the same service. You can ask the Assessment Officer for a copy of
these standards. If you wish, the Assessment Officer will also explain them
to you. The assessments should be about all of the needs your child has
because of his or her disability, not just the ones that it is possible to provide
services for immediately.
How long will the process take?
Once the assessments have started, they should be completed and a full
Assessment Report written within three months, unless there are
acceptable reasons for a delay. Assessment reports may be delayed for
clinical reasons or due to family illness or bereavement. The completed
Assessment Report will contain details of the needs that have been
identified for your child and the services that are required to meet those
needs. Your child’s needs may change and therefore, the Assessment
Report has to be reviewed at least every year. It may be reviewed more
frequently than that, if necessary.
What happens to the Assessment Report?
The completed Assessment Report is sent to the Case Manager. The
Case Manager’s job is to arrange for as many of the needs identified in
the Assessment Report to be met as possible. They will write a Service
Statement which will list the services that it is possible to provide. Having
received the Assessment Report, the Case Managers are given one
month to write the Service Statement. The Service Statement and
Assessment Report will be sent to you at the same time.
Will all my child’s needs be met?
The HSE, and the other service providers, will do all they can to provide
any services that your child needs as a result of their disability. These
services are varied, and are provided by a mix of HSE and voluntary
sector agencies. From time to time, these services may have a waiting
time or may be operating at capacity.
In this situation, the Case Manager will keep in touch with the service
providers to check where your child is on the waiting list and to check
what resources are available. The aim will be to meet as many of the
needs as possible, as soon as possible. You will be informed about the
level of service you can expect and about which needs can or cannot be
met at that time. The Case Manager will also be aware that your child’s
circumstances may change. You will be kept informed of the situation
and the service statement will be changed if necessary.
What happens if I am not satisfied?
The Disability Act 2005 provides for special complaints and appeals
procedures and also sets out the grounds on which you can make a
complaint. The Assessment Officer will provide you with information on
this. Apart from this special complaints process, you do, of course, have
access to the normal HSE complaints processes.