Service Level Arrangements
The Board of the National Federation of Voluntary Bodies mandated Brian O’Donnell to represent the National Federation in a process over a 10-month period between the HSE and other umbrella groups, including the Disability Federation of Ireland and the Not for Profit Business Association, in the development of a Service Level Arrangement Template. More recently, the national umbrella groups advocated for the development of a series of protocols to clarify certain provisions in the draft Service Level Arrangement, which are currently in draft format and have issued to all member organisations for comment.
You can obtain various documentation in relation to Service Arrangements on the HSE website.
HSE 2009 Disability Service Plan Consultative Group
This group was established to prioritise issues identified through consultation with member organisations for discussion with HSE, including:
- Funding reductions and impact on frontline services
- Government’s Review of Non Statutory Disability Organisations
- Development of new Service Level Agreement Template
- Implementation of Guidelines in designated Residential Settings.
Proposal to address Emergency / Crisis & School Leavers arising in 2009
In response to a proposal made by the National Federation of Voluntary Bodies the HSE established a Working Group to develop proposals to address Emergency/Crisis and school-leavers situations arising in 2009. The National Federation of Voluntary Bodies is represented on this group by Maura Nash, COPE Foundation; Paul Ledwidge, St. Michael’s House and Brendan Sutton, Cheeverstown House.
Protecting State’s Interests in Capital Projects
The National Federation of Voluntary Bodies participates in a Working Group, which was established by the HSE, to develop proposals to protect the State’s interest in capital projects in respect of which funding has been allocated. The National Federation will be obtaining legal advice to ensure that service providing interests are also protected. The National Federation is represented on the Working Group by Breda Crehan-Roche, Ability West; Pat O’Toole, St. Christopher’s and Gina Magliocco, Brothers of Charity.
National Review of HSE Funded Adult Day Services
In October 2005, the HSE commenced a National Review of Sheltered Services for People with Disabilities. A National Working Group representative of all stakeholders was established and Pat Reen, Prosper Fingal, is the National Federation’s representative on this group. The purpose of the review was to obtain information on all aspects of Sheltered Services, including establishing a listing of services by location, capacity and occupational activities. This review was informed by work initiated early in 2005 by the Department of Health and Children regarding funding arrangements for Sheltered Work Services.
The outcome from this initial review highlighted service delivery issues that needed to be addressed in relation to existing Sheltered Work practices and recommended that in order to fully address all of these issues, a review of all HSE Funded Adult Day Services should be commissioned and delivered as a matter of urgency.
A National Seminar "Demonstrating Change in the Provision of Day Services to People with Disabilities" was hosted by the National Working Group for the Review in Mullingar Park Hotel on November 19th 2008. The purpose of this Seminar was to demonstrate recent day service practice in some of the key themes that will underpin the outcomes of the Review report. This event was the final work task of the National Working Group prior to the commencement of mapping out the vision for “Progressing a Modern Person Centred Service”. The process of compiling the review report is now underway.