A total of 175 people, many of whom are children, are trapped in a backlog of cases as they wait to be seen by an understaffed government unit that assesses people for communication needs, according to the Inclusion Minister.

Julia Farrugia Portelli was addressing the issue during question time in parliament after Times of Malta published the story of a seven-year-old boy who has been waiting for more than four years to have his condition assessed by the Access to Communication and Technology Unit (ACTU).

The longer the delay, the more precious time we lose on early intervention- Julia Farrugia Portelli

George Micallef does not speak because of a condition he was born with and he needs to be assessed by the government unit to determine whether he can get a tailor-made device that would allow him to communicate with his friends and family.

The government unit is the only channel through which these assessments can be performed and some children, like George, have been waiting for four years and told they might have to wait up to a year longer before it is their turn.

The source of the problem is that the government is not managing to find professionals that are skilled enough or willing enough to man the unit.

“The situation bothers me. I’m not happy and it is unacceptable to leave children waiting for an assessment, even if it were only one child,” Farrugia Portelli told parliament.

“The longer the delay, the more precious time we lose on early intervention, which is crucial in young children who have problems talking. We must be honest and gauge where the system failed.”

Students urged to consider career in the field

Farrugia Portelli admitted the government is finding it hard to recruit professionals who are willing to do the job, urging students to consider channelling their career down this path which would give them a lot of satisfaction.

But she said the shortage is due to other circumstances as well, namely the fact the unit was transferred between government agencies a few years ago – a process which failed to transfer all 15 staffers to the new agency – Aġenzija Sapport.

The ACTU currently has a staff complement of only five professionals. In the past six months, the agency issued three calls and a few professionals finally applied for the last call.

Process far more complex than people might think- Cccupational therapist Sharon Borg Schembri

They are currently being interviewed, the minister said, and the agency visited a medical profession fair in the UK to promote this career and seek new professionals to work specifically within the unit.

Farrugia Portelli thanked the professionals working at the unit and said despite the staff shortage, they managed to schedule 685 appointments last year, 169 of which were in Gozo.

She also asked the public to cooperate, saying that people did not show up for 206 appointments.

Speech and language therapist May Agius and occupational therapist Sharon Borg Schembri are two of the five professionals at the ACTU, and they said the assessment process is far more complicated than people might think.

It takes multiple sessions with each case, intricate testing with several technologies in an ever-changing market, ongoing training of other professionals and long-term follow up sessions with each case and their peers, teachers and carers in school or at work.

'Huge pressure to get it right'

Furthermore, not every assessed case is prescribed assistive technology. For some individuals, using unaided strategies may also be recommended as the primary mode of communication or as part of a solution. Other solutions can include low-tech, paper-based communication, they explained.

“We have huge pressure to get it right because we must take responsibility for the recommendations we give,” Agius said.

“People on the team have very specific expertise and are tasked with accurately assessing what each case needs. Sometimes this takes up to 10 sessions with every case and many more hours to write a report.”

The professionals must constantly keep themselves informed on the changing technologies on the market and help each assessed person try different technologies at home until they find the best one, they said.

They also need to assess how the device will be funded, and when it is eventually shipped to Malta, a whole process kicks off – of setting it up, customising it and helping the child or adult and people around them use it to its full potential.

“It is not straightforward at all, because complex disabilities require complex solutions,” Borg Schembri said.

“We are also training students and other professionals to help us mitigate the issue, but it takes time.”