Parents seek meeting with Taoiseach, Tánaiste over scoliosis surgery delays

Parents of children needing spinal surgery are seeking a meeting with Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and Tánaiste Micheál Martin over continuing delays in their treatment.

Two advocacy groups are to seek another meeting with Mr Varadkar, with Mr Martin in attendance, after they sought a meeting with Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly separate from other groups. They last met Mr Varadkar last September.

Lengthening waiting lists for scoliosis and other orthopaedic operations for children amount to a “healthcare catastrophe”, according to Scoliosis Advocacy Network and Spina Bifida & Hydrocephalus Advocacy Group.

Both groups declined to attend a meeting convened by Mr Donnelly on Monday to discuss his plans for a taskforce to address the problem of long waiting lists for paediatric spinal surgery.

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[ Children’s scoliosis waiting lists fall despite Temple Street controversy ]

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They say Mr Donnelly’s proposed taskforce will be “toothless” unless it has “statutory entitlements” and is headed up by a “taskforce tzar”.

Two other groups, Spina Bifida Hydrocephalus Ireland and Scoliosis Awareness and Support Ireland, attended the meeting with the Minister.

In strongly-worded correspondence with the Minister’s office, seen by The Irish Times, Scoliosis Advocacy Network and Spina Bifida & Hydrocephalus Advocacy Group accuse Mr Donnelly of intransigence in his approach to the problem.

“Your approach has been ineffectual to date, now your approach in the face of this health catastrophe, that you have allowed to happen on your watch, is evolving into an autocratic, paternalistic and undemocratic approach where the clear message is that you know best.”

On Tuesday evening, the Dáil debated a Sinn Féin motion accusing the Government of failing to deliver on commitments made to children requiring surgery for scoliosis and other orthopaedic conditions.

The motion calls for the establishment of a taskforce to review scoliosis and spina bifida services, independent of CHI management and “mandated to listen, engage, and act on the advice and concerns of parents, patient advocates, and clinicians”.

The number of spinal procedures carried out on children has increased 22 per cent since 2019, Mr Donnelly told TDs – from 380 to 464 last year.

At the end of last year, 78 patients were waiting more than four months for surgery, 13 per cent down on the end of 2022, he said.

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