AN INVESTIGATION INTO a teenager who was on a waiting list for five years for a spinal fusion surgery has been described as “devastating” by the Children’s Ombudsman.

Ivy’s* scoliosis got so bad during her five-year wait that it caused restrictions in her breathing and led to her spine to curve from 30 to 135 degrees.

The investigation into Ivy’s case, carried out by the Ombudsman for Children’s Office (OCO) determined the administrative actions of Children’s Health Ireland (CHI) had a “negative impact on Ivy’s life”.

The OCO highlighted the long waiting lists for spinal fusion surgery, that previous governments worked to decrease, and the poor communication between hospitals and parents of the patients.

Today, the CHI has since said it “fully accepts” the report from the OCO and, while it cannot comment on individual cases, “arrangements have been made for the Clinical Directorate team to meet with Ivy and her family to discuss the learnings from the report”.

In 2017, then health minister Simon Harris made a commitment during a committee hearing that no child would wait more than four months for spinal surgery in the country.

Sinn Féin TD David Cullinane said today that the report from the OCO “lays bare the painful reality of broken promises for children with scoliosis”.

Cullinane said: “Ivy was left waiting for five years for her scoliosis surgery, at a time when Ministers for Health were promising that no child would wait longer than four months.

“That promise was never followed through. Children are still waiting years for access to surgery,” Cullinane added.

The CHI said there are currently 29 children in Temple Street Children’s Hospital on waiting lists for spinal fusion surgery. This figure is of June 2023, with the CHI saying it is aware of “lengthy waiting times for some of these surgeries”.

The paediatric health operators said it is “fully committed to maintaining the highest possible levels of quality care, access to services, and open communications for the children and young people” that it cares for.

Additionally, 14 actions and new processes to improve “communication and waiting list processes” in light of the report have been developed which have already been 72% complete.

‘Utterly helpless and utterly hopeless’

Today during Leaders’ Questions in the Dáil, Social Democrats leader TD Holly Cairns said: “Think about that for a moment. A child in this country, waiting so long for surgery that she’s left in horrific pain, denied an education and on occasion not even being able to breathe.

Imagine being the parent of that child, watching her suffer for years and feeling utterly helpless and utterly hopeless.”

Today, Cairns claimed that the promises made by the previous Health Minister were “never kept” and that no child should be waiting for spinal surgeries in Ireland.

Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Charlie McConalogue, who was answering Leaders’ Questions today, said that it was “heartbreaking” to see children waiting on spinal surgeries.

“Despite undertaking a record-number of spinal procedures in 2022 [...] corresponding reductions in the waiting list were offset by what was increased demand and referrals compared to previous years.”

McConalogue said it was “simply unacceptable that any child” has the same experience that the investigation found and said the government will focus on continuing to build “momentum and capacity”.

“It is something we will need to continue to build on and ensure this absolutely essential service [...] can be availed of,”

Cairns said that the families who are impacted by these waiting lists have heard the same promises before.

“I think it’s just quite frankly disgusting that, in a country as wealthy as Ireland, we have children who are being effectively tortured like this,” Cairns added.

*Ivy is not the actual name of the child who’s case was investigated, this name has been used for confidentiality reasons