Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Solidarity) | Oireachtas source

This is a litany of systemic failures. It is not one incident here or there. Issues include non-medical springs being used, unnecessary hip operations being carried out, defective equipment repair mechanisms with regard to X-rays, IT - Wi-Fi used in the chemotherapy unit rather than having its own Internet - and infection rates way above the norms. These have been brought to light by whistleblowers.

Nothing less than the resignation of the board is needed to allow the hospitals to move forward. A public or statutory inquiry is the demand of parents. I know the Government is consistently setting its face against such an approach on the grounds it would take too long. We know that traditionally, the powers that be have drawn out inquiries for so long because it suits them.

I will mention an issue that has not been brought up, which is infection rates. Two separate parents brought CHI and Temple Street hospital to an inquest over the death of their children due to sepsis in 2022. When questioned whether hospital staff had received any training about sepsis recognition following the death of another child in similar circumstances, a registrar said there had been a review for learning points but was unsure when it had taken place. It seems far above and beyond the norm. The Boston report and an internal CHI report on spinal cases of children living with spina bifida at Crumlin and Temple Street hospitals found rates of 55% and 75% of infection, respectively. Why did nobody call a halt and investigate this?

We also have the issue of unnecessary hip operations. It was believed that at Temple Street hospital, 60% did not meet the criteria. We know that many of them were paid for privately. The question as to whether there was any financial motive for carrying out those operations is important.

Between 2020 and 2023, MAGEC rods were inserted into children during spinal surgeries despite warnings from both the manufacturer and the Health Products Regulatory Authority that they should never be used for that purpose. Such surgeries still went ahead. How can the Minister possibly talk about not giving the red card to this board? How can the board members be expected to take forward this hospital in any way following such a litany of errors?

I will also briefly mention staffing, which lies at the heart of so many of the issues. The Government has been trying to move away from any responsibility for what has happened at the hospital. As noted by HIQA, the sheer amount of work and lack of staff has to be partially responsible for the situation, in particular the spring incident. Key oversight staff in Temple Street were moved to the overview of CHI and were never replaced. The Government is well aware of that. In 2023, CHI noted to the HSE that it was 382.8 full-time roles short of being able to run the new children's hospital. We know there is a systemic problem in recruiting staff that has not been addressed. There is nothing for it only for this board to resign and for the Minister to concede that there should be a public inquiry.

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