THE CEO OF the HSE has offered to meet advocacy groups representing families that have been impacted by the Temple Street spinal surgery crisis, after they announced that they would be boycotting a third review into the matter. 

The groups (the Spina Bifida & Hydrocephalus Paediatric Advocacy Group and The Scoliosis Advocacy Network) said that they will withhold patient medical record consent, and that they want the HSE and Children’s Health Ireland (CHI) to have no involvement on setting the terms of reference for the external review. 

They also said they will boycott the review unless the terms of reference are extended after consultation with the families. 

The groups asked the Taoiseach to meet with them to give them assurances about care for their children and on the upcoming review, which is being led by a UK expert. 

This evening the HSE and CHI released a joint statement acknowledging the “deep distress” experienced by children with spina bifida and scoliosis and their families. 

The HSE said that it understands the “deep frustration and anger” of the advocacy groups, and added that if they would find it useful, the CEO of the HSE would be “very happy to meet them”. 

“We further acknowledge and apologise very sincerely for the huge additions to this distress caused by the unacceptably long waiting lists for surgery, and the failings in the care we have provided to these children which have been the subject of recent reports,” the statement continued. 

The HSE said that the external review was commissioned by the HSE, but that it will be conducted completely independently by Dr Selvadurai Nagayam. 

It also stated that the terms of reference for the review are “broad”, and allow for the governance of the surgery service to be examined, as well as the implications for service capacity and access, and the delivery of the “current agreed plans and other matters”. 

The external review was commissioned by the HSE on Monday. It will examine issues that have been flagged with orthopaedic surgery at Temple Street Children’s Hospital. 

Today Leo Varadkar said that the Government will “get to the bottom” of the problems at Temple Street. 

He also expressed his “sympathy and solidarity” towards the children and families who have been affected. 

“We’ll do all we can find out all the facts as quickly as we can, and then take whatever actions are necessary to stabilise the service and then also to improve it,” Varadkar said. 

He said that there have been problems with spinal surgery services for children in Ireland since he was in medical school. 

“I don’t know how many ministers now have tried to fix it – six, seven, maybe eight. I don’t know how much money was poured into the service and while it has improved somewhat, it’s well short of where it needs to be,” Varadkar said. 

He acknowledged that compensation owed to the families affected by this crisis could run into the millions of euro, but said that the priority at present is getting the families “the answers they need”. 

CHI first identified concerns relating to surgical outcomes in children’s spinal surgeries at the hospital last year, specifically around the use of a particular spinal technique, and the use of unauthorised spring devices. 

One child died and other suffered complications following spinal surgeries at the hospital. 

The Health Products Regulatory Authority (HRPA) has confirmed that is was not notified by CHI that springs were being used in surgeries on children at Temple Street.

The first review  into the matter– which follows internal and external reviews commissioned by CHI itself – has a “primary focus” on one consultant, who has been referred to the Medical Council, but is also expected to examine resourcing of the service and the impact of delayed access to surgery, as well as governance at the hospital.

- Additional reporting by Valerie Flynn and Christina Finn.