How we work

There are different services in the HSE for different types of needs. We know this can be really confusing for families. If you aren't sure which service is right for you, it's a good idea to talk to a health care professional in the service to ask. 

Primary Care

Primary Care services are usually the first point of contact when a parent or guardian is concerned about their child’s development. Many children with delays in their development can have their needs met by their local Primary Care services.

Primary Care services include Public Health Nursing, Psychology, Speech and Language Therapy, Occupational Therapy, Physiotherapy, Social Work, Dietetics and Community Medical Doctors.

Primary Care services are made up of these different disciplines and each team member will independently support the child focusing on the area they specialise in, for example, speech and language therapy or occupational therapy. 

The teams will have agreed policies and procedures for working together and for communication. They will work with the family and child to meet their identified needs using individual discipline care.

Children’s Disability Network Teams (CDNTs)

CDNTs address the needs of children with a wide range of complex needs arising from their disability including, but not limited to, intellectual disability, physical disability and autism.

CDNTs typically include the following: Occupational Therapists, Psychologists, Nurses, Physiotherapists, Social Workers, Dieticians and Speech and Language Therapists. CDNTs may also have access to other disciplines such as social care staff, early educators and therapy assistants. 

CDNTs work within an interdisciplinary framework. This means that they work together and share information, decision-making, and goal-setting. They have common policies and procedures and frequent opportunities for communication. The CDNT works together with the child and family, to create an individual family support plan (IFSP).

A child’s access to a CDNT is based on the complexity of their needs. A diagnosis is not required to be referred to a CDNT. An Assessment of Need is not required to be referred to a CDNT. 

Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS)

This service provides a specialist mental health service to children and young people who have moderate to severe mental health disorders that require the input of a specialist multi-disciplinary mental health team. There are also CAMHS services for children and young people with an Intellectual Disability known as CAMHS-ID teams. 

CAMHS teams consist of multidisciplinary team members such as Psychiatrists, Psychologists, Clinical Nurse Specialists, Social Workers, Occupational Therapists, Speech and Language Therapists and administrators.

Working Together

Primary Care services and CDNTs collaborate together and a child may be referred from one service to the other depending on the complexity of their needs.

Some children / young people will need a level of expertise which may not solely be met by Primary Care or the CDNT. These children will be referred to specialist services to support and work with Primary Care and the CDNT to meet their needs.

Children may be linked with both the CDNT and CAMHS/CAMHS-ID.

Referrals into these three services

Follow this link to view our referral section.