The health authorities are currently in the process of issuing tenders to outsource services offered to children with special needs.
The Health Ministry said its main aim was to secure the provision of quality services to all patients irrespective of where they are offered.
While welcoming the development, the parents of some of the children are urging the government to speed up the process.
“The earlier you start offering therapy to children with special needs, the greater the chance of the child reaching his potential.
“Even a month’s delay can make a difference... Our children need action now,” said one parent, Aldo Abela.
The government’s Child Development Assessment Unit (CDAU), which also offers therapy to children with special needs, recently came under fire in an internal government document.
A report drawn up by a government-appointed taskforce revealed that some children with disabilities were made to wait more than a year for their first appointments with the government’s unit.
Earlier this month, parents of five children who use Inspire’s services wrote an open letter to the Health Minister calling on the government to provide effective and continuous therapy by funding services offered by NGOs, like Inspire.
They said therapeutic services offered by the CDAU were inadequate, so they had no choice but to resort to Inspire.
However, Inspire is being forced to cut some of its precious services – including speech and occupational therapy and physiotherapy – because of a lack of funds.
The parents, who are members of the Inspire Parents’ Forum, called on the government to take action to ensure children like theirs have access to efficient therapy.
Given the state’s limited resources, and to avoid duplication of services, they suggested the government restores funding to Inspire and works in partnership with the non-profit organisation, or other NGOs.
Inspire CEO Nathan Farrugia said Inspire had forwarded its proposals to the government to continue offering its therapeutic services as well as offer an array of multidisciplinary services.
Asked what would become of the recommendations made by the task force, a spokesman for the Health Ministry said: “The recommendation regarding the possibility of outsourcing services currently offered at CDAU, has been explored. The process of issuing tenders for various services has been initiated...
“This process requires significant planning in order to ensure that any outsourced services are indeed of the required optimal quality and sustainability as duly deserved by our patients,” the spokesman said.