HIQA finds four areas of non compliance at Louth and Meath Tusla

The Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA)  today published an inspection report on the child protection and welfare service operated by the Child and Family Agency (Tusla) in the Louth Meath service area finding that “of the six standards assessed, two were judged as compliant and four were not compliant.”

The inspection of the Louth Meath service area was conducted over three days on 25, 26 and 27 of April 2023. 

This inspection aimed to assess compliance with the national standards relating to the management of children who are at ongoing significant risk of harm and who are placed on Tusla’s Child Protection Notification System (CPNS). 

Overall, the Louth Meath service area was found to need improvement and a strengthening of governance arrangements in order to provide a consistent safe service to all children listed on the CPNS. 

According to Hiqa:

“There was a major capacity issue in staffing resources to meet the demands of the wider service, however children on the CPNS had not been prioritised sufficiently.

“As a result, the monitoring of children listed on the CPNS and the relevant child protection safety plans through social work visits was poor. 

“In addition, three children listed on the CPNS did not have an allocated social worker, and two of these children had remained unallocated for a period of two months.”

The report also noted that while there were risk management systems in place to ensure that all risks in the service were reported on and managed, this system was not effective in the reduction of prolonged and persistent risks to the service. 

Risks included high levels of staff vacancies and the high number of unallocated cases in the area. 

“However, risks relating directly to children listed on the CPNS, such as infrequent home visits, were not identified. 

“Systems to monitor and track the service provided to children on the CPNS were not effective in order to ensure that all children were visited as required and that their safety plans were monitored appropriately.”

HIQA also found that child protection conferences were found to be well planned and inclusive of all participating family members and were well attended by all relevant professionals to ensure the needs of children were appropriately represented. 

“Child protection conferences were comprehensively facilitated by an independent and appropriately-qualified chairperson. 

“However, inspectors found there were gaps in respect of timelines for holding some conferences from the point of referral.

“Review child protection conferences were timely, of good quality, and there was a focus on ensuring that all key professionals were in attendance.”

“There was a good level of interagency and inter-professional cooperation and supports within the service. Interagency and inter-professional attendance was good at child protection conferences. 

“Strategy meetings were occurring for cases as required and it was clear that there was a good level of communication and consultation within the service.”

In a statement responding to the report, Tusla said:

“Tusla - Child and Family Agency notes the publication today of the HIQA inspection report for child protection and welfare services in the Louth / Meath  Area. 

“The inspection focused on the service delivered to children who are subject to a child protection case conference and whose names are entered onto the Child Protection Notification System (CPNS).

“ This inspection report highlights the impact of increasing demand on services in the area, and indeed across the Agency. HIQA found that immediate risks to children were responded to appropriately. 

 Speaking about the report, Eilidh MacNab, Regional Chief Officer, Dublin North East said: 

“Today’s report highlights a number of improvements required in the operation of the service and we are committed to implementing these changes. 

“The inspection report noted that the service faced an ongoing shortfall in capacity, which greatly affected timelines for the completion of initial child protection conferences and this had caused delays for some children and families in receiving a service, which falls below the standards we would want.

“However, crucially HIQA found that immediate risks to children were responded to appropriately ensuring any child who is at immediate risk receives an immediate response. 

“The report found that the child protection conferences were comprehensive, inclusive of all participating family members and involved good interagency work. 

“All children on the CPNS in the area have an allocated social worker and we will work through our agreed compliance plan to address areas for improvement.”