Catherine Byrne (Dublin South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I apologise for the Minister for Health's absence. I am not sure where he is. I did not know until two hours ago that I would take this matter. When a Topical Issue matter is submitted I suggest that the Ceann Comhairle contact the office of the relevant Minister to ask if he or she will be available to take the matter. I do not know if that is possible but it would give Deputies an opportunity to withdraw the matter until such time as the Minister becomes available.

On behalf of the Minister, I thank Deputy O'Reilly for raising this issue. It gives me an opportunity to provide an update to the House on the progress to date on the reduction of waiting times for children with scoliosis. The long-term strategy to develop sustainable scoliosis services in 2018 and 2019 is a priority for the Minister and the HSE. Children's Health Ireland advises that the impact of investment and the implementation of the scoliosis ten-point action plan is now delivering results with an improvement in waiting times being recorded.

In 2018, Children's Health Ireland was provided with €9 million in funding by the HSE to address paediatric orthopaedic waiting lists, including the provision of scoliosis services. Last year saw the delivery of results from this investment, with a consistent reduction in waiting times being recorded for scoliosis. As a result of this increased investment, the total number of surgeries performed in 2018 was 418 compared with 371 in 2017, representing a 12% increase in activity year on year and a marked increase in activity of 87% compared with 2016. This increased activity has had a positive impact on the numbers waiting. Children's Health Ireland advises that, as of 14 June 2019, there were 193 children waiting for a spinal fusion or other spinal procedure. This constitutes an 11% decrease on the same period last year. The figure includes suspended patients, a category that has seen a 70% reduction in numbers year on year. Children's Health Ireland advises that the numbers of spinal fusion patients waiting for more than four months has also decreased this year, with 30% of fusion patients waiting longer than four months compared with 39% at the end of 2018. More broadly, all patient referrals to the orthopaedic spinal service at Children's Health Ireland are reviewed and clinically prioritised by a consultant. These patients are seen in order of clinical priority.

Work to address the complex issue of scoliosis is included in the wider plans to improve orthopaedic services at Children's Health Ireland. More than 30,000 children attended the paediatric orthopaedic outpatient departments at Children's Health Ireland and Cappagh National Orthopaedic Hospital in 2018. An additional 800 outpatient appointments were given to patients in Children's Health Ireland at Crumlin children's hospital in 2018 compared with 2017, which contributed to a 31% reduction in the overall orthopaedic outpatient waiting list. In addition, an outpatient initiative for long waiters carried out by Children's Health Ireland at Crumlin children's hospital facilitated 443 appointments from the orthopaedic outpatient waiting list.

The paediatric scoliosis services co-design group established in March 2017 includes the scoliosis advocacy groups. These groups work with professionals and managers to design comprehensive scoliosis services to meet the needs of children, young people, their families and healthcare professionals. The work of the co-design group continues to form the basis for the ongoing development of the scoliosis service in 2019. I understand that the co-design group published the scoliosis ten-point action plan in July 2018 and will publish a further update at the end of this month.

In reference to Deputy O'Reilly's question, if the Deputy forwards the names of the children to whom she referred, I will bring them to the Minister's attention.

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