Offaly Scoliosis advocate has "zero confidence" in board of Children's Health Ireland
By Rebekah O'Reilly
Scoliosis patient advocate, and Rhode native, Gary Farrell has called for changes to the Board of Children's Health Ireland (CHI) in the aftermath of a HIQA review which criticised the use of unapproved springs in spinal surgery at Temple Street Children's University Hospital in Dublin.
The recent HIQA report found that a CHI surgeon had wrongfully used non-approved and non-medical grade springs in the treatment of three children at Temple Street during a period from November 2018 to July 2023.
"When you have these unauthorised springs in a child, of course, any parent who leaves their child in the care of CHI would find it very, very hard," Mr Farrell told the Offaly Independent.
"It's about not knowing if the instrumentation is going to be authorised, and not knowing whether or not you can trust the surgeons.
"We are actually calling for the board of CHI to step down. We want a meeting with the Minister for Health and the Taoiseach - we have actually put in five requests, but haven't received any response so far."
In recent days, a number of groups have brought to light related issues surrounding wait list times and instances of unnecessary hip operations involving children in CHI care.
"It's not just the springs scandal, there are issues with the wait lists, and now issues with hip surgeries - there's issues coming up left and right. We are waiting now for a new report on the hip surgeries," said Mr Farrell.
"Things have only been getting worse. In terms of wait lists, we have some children who have been waiting for up to four years for surgery. In 2017, then-Minister for Health Simon Harris promised the wait times would be reduced to no longer than four months. Unfortunately, there are children who need more than one operation as well.
"With scoliosis, it affects the curvature of your spine, it affects organs like your lungs, and your heart. So these children really need to receive treatment as soon as possible, because it progresses if it's not caught at an early stage.
"We have an infection rate in Temple Street of 75%, and in Crumlin we have an infection rate of 50%. It's ridiculous, and we have absolutely zero confidence in the board of CHI. We need a new board to be established."
Mr Farrell, who was diagnosed with Scoliosis himself aged 14, and then founded Scoliosis Ireland in 2010, has been campaigning for better services for those suffering with Scoliosis for over fifteen years.
Scoliosis Ireland offers support from its base in Rhode, operating one of the largest Scoliosis support networks across Ireland and Europe.
"Over the coming weeks, we want to see more transparency from CHI, we want to see a new Board of CHI established, and we want to see promises of reduced wait times followed through," Mr Farrell added.
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