Numbers of children on waiting list for spinal surgeries continues to grow
“The tragic and avoidable passing of Harvey Morrison Sherratt over the summer must bring an end to the neglect of children with significant medical needs within this State,” said Deputy Rose Conway-Walsh in the Dáil on Wednesday.
She has warned that children in Ireland with complex medical needs are continuing to be failed by the state, and highlighted the case of 17-year-old Mikey Henry from Mayo, whose scoliosis has severely worsened while waiting for urgent spinal surgery.
“Mikey Henry from Mayo is one of these young people who has experienced the consequences of failure of care within Children’s Health Ireland. He is 17 years of age,” she told the Dáil.
“When his parents first tried to access an operation for Mikey for scoliosis in 2022, the curve on his spine was 82 degrees. This week, the curve on his spine is 130 degrees,
“Mikey’s scoliosis has deteriorated to the point that it has damaged his lungs and left him struggling to breathe on his own, requiring oxygen during the day and a mask at night to breathe.”
Speaking on the Government’s National Human Rights Strategy for Disabled People 2025–2030, the Sinn Féin TD welcomed the plan but said: “We know the road from here to Mayo is paved with unimplemented strategies and good intentions.”
Deputy Conway-Walsh said Mikey’s case shows how the Government’s repeated promises on children’s healthcare have not been delivered.
She highlighted a 2017 pledge made by Simon Harris, who was Minister for Health at the time, that no child would wait more than four months for scoliosis surgery.
“This is evidently not the reality for families up and down the country,” she said.
The current delays in lifesaving scoliosis surgery were brought into sharp focus following the death of nine-year-old Harvey Morrison Sherratt earlier this year.
Deputy Conway-Walsh paid tribute to Harvey’s parents, who are campaigning for change in the current system.
“My sincere condolences to his parents, Gillian and Stephen, and my gratitude to them for the campaign they are leading to save the lives of other children who wait for operations. I fully support their pursuit of a full independent statutory enquiry.”
She noted that as of this week, there are 135 children on the spinal surgery waiting list, up from 108 in January, and just seven children have been treated abroad under a directive introduced by the previous Minister for Health.
The directive instructed the HSE to send children who were waiting more than four months for surgery to the UK or the US.
Referring to a conversation with Ms Sherratt, Deputy Conway-Walsh told the Dáil that she outlined two measures that could be implemented immediately to help ensure no more children lose their lives while waiting for surgery.
“The first one was insourcing. Why are we not bringing in consultants and surgeons from abroad to carry out these lifesaving operations?,
“The second one was the ring fencing a small section of private hospitals to carry out surgeries for non-complex patients, thereby freeing up public hospitals for more complex surgeries where a multiple of treatments are required.”
Deputy Conway-Walsh called for weekly updates on the waiting list until every child has received the surgery they need, and raised a further issue directly affecting families like Mikey’s.
“I also want to raise the necessity of Mikey, other children, and young adults to be provided with suitable transport. Suitable transport that can carry the oxygen tanks and meet the needs of a family of a child with scoliosis who has been failed in so many ways.”
This article has been funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.