Bobby Aylward (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Chair for selecting this very important matter for discussion. I am disappointed that the senior Minister is not here but I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Catherine Byrne.

In mid-November, the Fianna Fáil spokesperson on health, Deputy Kelleher, made two impassioned speeches in this House following a meeting with members of the Scoliosis Advocacy Network who are campaigning very actively on behalf of their children and other children. Deputy Kelleher read a number of case studies into the record of the House and I want to update the Minister of State on one of them. Mary, whose name has been changed to protect her identity, was diagnosed at age ten in May 2013 with a 40° spinal curve at Mullingar General Hospital. She was referred to Our Lady's Children's Hospital Crumlin for urgent review by a specialist. She was obliged to wait 11 months before she could see a consultant. During this 11-month wait, Mary's curve deteriorated from 40° to 90°. At that point, she required urgent surgery to halt the progress of her spinal curve. In fact, she required two significantly invasive surgeries and would need to have some of her ribs removed. This was due to the long wait and the deterioration in her condition. She finally made it to theatre 17 months after her diagnosis for her first surgery and her curve was well over 100° at that point. Unfortunately, Mary now finds herself back on a waiting list for surgery to correct a failed fusion and there is no date in sight for this procedure.

Last week the Kilkenny scoliosis advocacy group wrote to update me on Mary's case and explained the following:

The pin which had become dislodged months ago has now moved and become septic. This child should not have been left wait months and months for this surgery. The fact is that the only way our children can access surgery is when they are in fact in a health crisis. This is shameful and of course we will be highlighting it with Minister Simon Harris. Before I left Our Lady's Children's Hospital Crumlin with my son after his surgery, I was told if a rod breaks or dislodges its ok. Don't present to Our Lady's Children's Hospital but go to a GP. This advice is totally unacceptable but indicative of the service our children are receiving. There has been a normalisation and acceptance of poor care and after care by teams involved in our children's care.

I am not going to stand in the House today and play politics with this issue but I have promised these women face to face that I will continue to raise these issues on their behalf. I understand the Minister has visited many hospitals around the country since taking over a very difficult brief, and that he is taking on his Ministry with determination and vigour, which is encouraging. However, these women are acutely aware of the current situation facing those on scoliosis waiting lists and this is a very damming assessment.

I acknowledge that commitments have been made for new theatres in Crumlin but the crux of the issue is that the longer we wait for policies to be implemented, the more children will be subjected to severe, long-term and, in some cases, irreparable damage while they wait. July 2017 has been stated as a timeline for the recruitment of additional consultants and for various policies to be implemented but we must be able to speed up this process. I have also heard statements about the difficulties surrounding recruitment but we must implement a more imaginative approach to attracting staff, particularly theatre nurses, on a short-term basis for these specific cases. We could recruit paediatric theatre nurses and additional consultants for several months to ensure extra capacity in the theatres in Crumlin to address this issue.

I am interested in hearing the Minister of State's thoughts on this potential strategy and I would like to ask her what progress has been made in reducing waiting times since we raised these issues one month ago.

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