Ms Vickie Kirkpatrick:

I thank Deputy Murphy O'Mahony. I will start with the easiest point as to the process. The document was created without any consultation with us. Members have reported that it has been a knee-jerk reaction towards trying to manage the large increase recently in those waiting for further assessment of need.

On the preliminary team assessment suggestion, having not been around the table when this came into being, the Act deals with the determination of disability, and the steps required to do that. It is never straightforward. Often best practice requires a multi-disciplinary approach to do that. One of the solutions would be the implementation of disability network teams under Progressing Disability Services for Children and Young People, if that was implemented.

The objective is for parents to have one point of access. Over time there have been delays in accessing services. Our members are seeing parents going an AON route to ensure they can access services rather than going with the provisions of the Disability Act 2005, per se. It is very likely that without an audit people might wait in an AON queue when it was never designed for that purpose, particularly with regard to the level of complexity of the needs of the people in that queue. It is one aspect of the wait list numbers.

The risk of misdiagnosis is widespread with the current form of standard operating procedure. As I mentioned in my opening address, speech and language therapists, occupational therapists and social workers are currently regulated. Physiotherapists and psychologists will soon be regulated. This is to protect the public and ensure we do not engage in any practices that might put people at risk. It is our duty to highlight the risks that this presents. Even if the time changes, autonomous practice is required to ensure clinicians have the scope to meet the emotional needs of families. We heard that very much from the DCA Warriors. It is correct that speech and language therapy is not just about communication or feeding, eating, drinking and swallowing. A therapeutic relationship is formed with people because of the nature of communication. Working with younger people this takes longer to develop that trust in the family context. We need to gather the information in a timely fashion.

I would be as bold as to suggest that the issue with the wait list in AONs is not how long it takes us on the other side to do an assessment but rather the volume. Clinicians work as teams to ensure best practice and that work is the most important aspect of the process. If we audit and quantify it, this would not be the piece delaying the numbers at the door. Does that make sense?