LAST UPDATE | 14 May

MORE THAN 2,200 letters have been sent to parents of children who underwent hip dysplasia surgery, offering them routine follow-up appointments. 

Children’s Health Ireland (CHI) and the National Orthopaedic Hospital Cappagh (NOHC) in Dublin confirmed this evening that these appointments are scheduled to take place in the coming months.

A total of 1,757 letters were sent by CHI to parents of children who had the surgery at Temple Street and Crumlin hospitals. The NOHC has sent 503 letters.

It follows lengthy Dáil debates in recent days over claims by the opposition that the government is “stonewalling” parents and leaving them “in the dark” over an audit of the surgeries.

Last night, Health Minister Jennifer Carroll MacNeill said she would order CHI and NOHC to publish information around the number of letters it sent to families. 

It came after politicians called for clarity on when an independent review into hip surgeries conducted on children, who had developmental dysplasia of the hip, will be published. 

The audit was announced last year following new claims that the operation rate in Ireland was five to 10 times higher than in other countries.

Hip dysplasia is the medical term for a hip socket that doesn’t fully cover the ball portion of the upper thigh bone. This allows the hip joint to become partially or completely dislocated.

An anonymised sample of the hip surgeries, between 2021 and 2023, has been taken for the audit using operations that took place at CHI hospital sites, as well as the NOHC.

The Ditch published a leaked draft of the report in March into the procedures carried out at a number of hospitals, with auditors taking a sample of surgeries and assessing whether a threshold for surgery was indicated. 

“It claims that hundreds of children on whom surgery was carried out did not meet the threshold for that surgery. They were subject to unnecessary surgery,” TD Pearse Doherty told the Dáil at the time. 

Speaking in the Dáil today, Taoiseach Micheál Martin said the final version of the audit will be published “fairly imminently”.

Martin told the Dáil that no one is stalling the release of the report, stating that the government is not “hiding anything”, stating that it would be published soon. 

Martin said that on the back of the leaked report, letters were sent out to parents.

Confusion over letters

Confusion arose as to how many families received correspondence and why, with reports that some letters were sent to families whose children fall out of the audit period, having had surgery 15 years ago. 

CHI and NOHC both confirmed this evening that they have sent over 2,200 letters to parents, offering them routine follow-up appointments for their children. 

They explained that they wrote to the parents of all children who underwent the surgery “in line with good clinical practice” to inform them of the ongoing clinical audit.

The statement clarified that the group of patients will continue to be monitored until their bones are fully grown and that the hospitals are ensuring that all parents are in a follow-up process. 

The hospitals also assured that, once the clinical audit is completed, both organisations will continue to communicate with the families as part of an action plan.

“We recognise the concerns of our patients’ families and are committed to expediting the audit process, publishing the findings, and implementing any required actions,” the hospitals said this evening.

“When the audit is complete, we will prioritise open and transparent communication with our patient families.”

Parents ‘in a panic’

The hospitals’ clarification statements come after the issue was discussed in the Dáil today, where TDs said parents are “in a panic” after receiving letters.

Sinn Féin’s Mary Lou McDonald said told the Dáil today that sending out a letter to parents is a recommendation of the report, stating that it is not “a general letter”.

Aontú’s Peadar Toíbín asked for clarity to be given as to why families outside the audit period have been contacted. 

“Government wants the facts here, I want the facts here,” said the Taoiseach. 

“I have no interest in hiding anything, why would I [...] we need to find out the full facts,” he added. 

The health minister said yesterday she thinks it is “really important” that CHI and Cappagh confirm the number of letters they have sent.

The Taoiseach said he hoped the report would be released by the end of next week. 

Includes reporting by Muiris Ó Cearbhaill and Andrew Walsh