Paediatric consultant at Temple Street calls for reinstatement of doctor at centre of spinal surgery controversy

The lead paediatric orthopaedic consultant surgeon at Temple Street Children’s Hospital has called on hospital management to ensure that consultant surgeon Connor Green immediately returns to work in order to tackle waiting lists for children who require spinal surgery.

In a SOS call to management, Professor Damian McCormack said: “These children are suffering and will continue to suffer unless Connor returns to work.”

On Wednesday, Independent Senator Tom Clonan told the Seanad that 150 children requiring surgery for complex orthopaedic conditions were on waiting lists.

Mr Green, who is regarded as the only physician with suitable experience in the most complex orthopaedic conditions, took voluntary leave on September 11th, 2023, after Children’s Health Ireland (CHI), which runs Temple Street, referred him to the Irish Medical Council, and launched internal and external reviews of spinal surgical outcomes, after it emerged devices that were not authorised for medical use were implanted in some patients.

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Mr Green last performed spinal surgery in April 2023 and limb surgery on July 12th, 2023.

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Parents of children who remain under Mr Green and are waiting for life changing surgeries, and who set up the OrthoKids Ireland group calling for Mr Green to be immediately brought back to work at Temple Street, have said travelling abroad for surgery is not an option for many of them.

Commenting on this, Prof McCormack said: “The transfer of complex surgical problems abroad is unnecessary and unsafe and an abdication of clinical responsibility.

Professor McCormack also criticised current hospital governance protocols.

He said: “We have a superb surgical and medical staff capable of tertiary level activity but we must develop a safe environment for such work. The imposition of technocratic protocols and standards on medical staff is the worst way to encourage improvement in services.”

Professor McCormack’s comments come after the Seanad was temporarily suspended on Wednesday when Senator Tom Clonan refused a direction of the House to “sit down” after his speaking time, on the issue of surgical waiting lists, had elapsed.

Senator Clonan said one of the group of children waiting for surgery had become “paralysed” since he had raised the issue again prior to last Christmas.

He complained that the Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly, was not present in the chamber to address the issue, however minister Donnelly and his office later stated that the minister was attending a health committee meeting in the Dáil at the same time.

Children’s Health Ireland has previously said it had no prior knowledge of the implants.

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A letter purportedly sent in 2020 from Mr Green to the head of CHI, Eilish Harriman, seeking guidance on the use for surgery of “off-label and experimental techniques using devices not designed for this purpose” which the families of the children involved had consented to, was read into the Dáil record last year.

Ms Hardiman told an Oireachtas health committee hearing last September that she had no memory of seeing or receiving the letter, and she would never have approved unauthorised device implants.

Mr Green has declined to comment on his situation.

CHI were asked for comment in relation to Prof McCormack’s remarks and Senator Clonan’s Seanad address.

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