Marcella Corcoran Kennedy (Offaly, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Kelleher for raising this matter. It is clear that the Deputy has been personally affected by his engagement with the parents. Those of us who enjoy good health and whose children enjoy good health sometimes take it for granted. Anybody listening to the Deputy could not help but be moved by the dreadful experiences those families have had. However, this is an opportunity to update the House on behalf of the Minister, Deputy Harris. He asked me to extend his apologies to the Deputy for not being present but he is unavoidably detained elsewhere.

Long waiting times for scoliosis surgery are not acceptable and the Department of Health has been working closely with the HSE to address service pressures, particularly in Our Lady's Children’s Hospital Crumlin, which is the largest provider of scoliosis surgery for children and young people. Additional funding of €1.042 million was allocated under the 2015 service plan to increase capacity at Crumlin, and further resources of €0.987 million have been allocated under the 2016 service plan for orthopaedics and trauma to address service needs in Crumlin which will have a positive effect on access for scoliosis patients. The complement of consultant orthopaedic surgeons at Crumlin has increased by 1.5 whole-time equivalents which will enhance the overall orthopaedic service, including spinal surgery.

The construction of a new orthopaedic theatre in Crumlin has been completed. This new facility will provide for additional scoliosis activity in 2017, but is dependent on the recruitment of additional theatre nurses. While the hospital continues to recruit nursing staff successfully, it must be said that balancing this with attrition rates, maternity leave and sick leave continues to present a challenge. However, the Children’s Hospital Group is exhausting every recruitment and retention avenue available to it, including international recruitment, and is proactively working on nurse recruitment to support the opening of the new theatre.

The HSE winter initiative 2016-17 includes €2 million provided specifically for scoliosis patients to provide for the surgeries required by year end by 15 paediatric cases on the Crumlin waiting list and to treat 39 adolescent-adult cases on the Tallaght Hospital waiting list. In an effort to address inpatient and outpatient spinal orthopaedic waiting lists at TaIlaght Hospital, an additional half-time consultant was appointed in late 2014. This appointment has assisted in managing emergency admissions and in running additional waiting list clinics. In 2015, €1 million was provided by the HSE to fund 100 degenerative spinal surgeries at Tallaght. An additional consultant is also due to start work at the hospital in July 2017 and it is expected that this appointment will assist in addressing the hospital’s capacity deficit in the long term.

The Minister, Deputy Harris, and I are aware that the long-term strategy for Tallaght Hospital is to provide spinal degenerative surgery, with a gradual transfer of the adolescent scoliosis surgery from Our Lady’s Children’s Hospital Crumlin, to the new children’s hospital. The Department will continue to work with the HSE and the relevant hospitals to ensure improvements in access to spinal surgery are achieved. The Minister recently met with a number of scoliosis advocacy groups to discuss their concerns, following which the Children’s Hospital Group has begun a process of engagement with the advocacy groups on developing a partnership approach to the design and planning of services for children with scoliosis. Those inputs will be important because we must listen carefully to the parents and the advocacy groups. This will provide an opportunity for them to work with the hospitals and consultants in the design and planning of paediatric scoliosis services.

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