‘Parents are watching their children deteriorate’: Kilkenny TD criticises spinal surgery waitlists

Fianna Fáil TD for Carlow/Kilkenny, John McGuinness, has hit out at waitlists for child spinal surgeries which are lengthening despite mounting public pressure.

Much of the anger has been focused around then Minister for Health, Simon Harris’ comments in 2017 pledging that no child with scoliosis or spina bifida would have to wait more than four months for surgery, a promise which has been left unfulfilled.

Speaking to The Kilkenny People, Deputy McGuinness recounted the case of an affected constituent in the county which he raised at a Dáil debate on the issue last month.

“I read out a letter from a constituent here in Kilkenny that sets out the sadness of the story but also the trauma for the child and the fact that a young person has not been given the appropriate chances to get on in their life simply because of the inefficiencies of the system and the Department of Health”, Deputy McGuinness said.

The letter describes the case of a child who was not put forward for surgery in New York or London despite foreign spinal surgeons visiting Children’s Health Ireland twice over the course of four months this year.

This period of inaction caused the child’s condition to deteriorate and they now have a worsening lower curve while the upper portion of the spine has become auto-fused.

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The child’s mother has since been informed that this section of the spine can no longer be addressed due to its complexity.

“Parents are watching their children deteriorate in the context of their health and then being put on an endless waiting list for spinal surgery,” Deputy McGuinness outlined. “It isn’t good enough at all that this will go on”.

“It’s an area where there's huge need for communication, engagement, investment in terms of getting the operations done abroad and a determination by Government to ensure that young children get the best chance possible. I’m not satisfied at all with what’s going on”, he added.

Anger at the situation reached new heights earlier this year with the death of nine year old Harvey Morrison Sherratt, who had been on a waitlist for his second spinal surgery.

After Harvey died it emerged that he had been removed from the list without his parents’ knowledge or consent, leading to increased calls for reform to the system around paediatric spinal care.

Deputy McGuinness raised a second case in the same Dáil debate about a Kilkenny child who was first seen by specialists in 2004 aged four. He eventually had surgery in 2009 

with a follow-up operation promised in 2014 which still has not occurred.

The constituent, now in his 20s, is starting to fall out of the system after experiencing spinal issues for over two decades, showcasing the long-term nature of the plight facing children on waitlists.

Deputy McGuinness concluded by echoing calls for change, but is not optimistic about positive action being delivered soon if current strategies are maintained.

“They need to ensure that there’s reform of the process on one side, that the old cases are dealt with before the kids get too old to have the operation that would rectify the situation or at least help them”, he said.

“That doesn’t seem to be happening at any kind of pace and that’s what concerns me. Everyone expresses dissatisfaction, I’m doing the same right now but I don’t see the action being taken that will convince me they’re serious about it”.

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