The High Court has ordered the Health Service Executive to complete two children’s assessments of need within six weeks, after finding that delays in the statutory complaints process justified the families’ decision to pursue judicial review.
In a judgment delivered on 15 May 2018, Ms Justice Faherty said the HSE had admitted that statutory timeframes for starting and completing the assessments had been exceeded. The cases concerned two anonymised children whose parents suspected they might have autism.
The court found that the Disability Act 2005 and related regulations imposed mandatory time limits on the HSE. It also accepted that the complaints officer had taken eight to nine months to process one complaint and about ten months to process the other. The judge said those delays were unreasonable, particularly given the importance of timely assessment where autism is suspected.
The families had initially used the statutory complaints process, then withdrew their complaints and sought judicial review. The HSE opposed the applications, arguing that court orders could give the children priority over others waiting for assessments and conflict with the prescribed order for processing applications. It also disputed that the complaints process was an inadequate remedy.
The court granted orders directing the HSE to complete both assessments within six weeks. The judgment did not decide whether either child had a disability or autism, and it did not order particular services or treatment.
However, the judge refused the families’ request for a declaration that the statutory complaints process was not an adequate or appropriate remedy. She said the proceedings did not challenge the legislation itself and that there was nothing inherently wrong with the remedy it provided. The complaints officer must deal with complaints within a reasonable timeframe, she said, and delays like those in these cases were unreasonable.