Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context

I thank the Ceann Comhairle and his office for calling this important matter. This concerns two secondary school students in my constituency aged 15 and 17 years respectively who suffer with a condition known as scoliosis, in which the spine grows inwards and from side to side causing pain, deformity or even breathing problems in the late stages. The condition in its severest form causes curvature of the spine and visible deformity. Both girls require specialist operations to correct the curvature. There is no connection between the two cases except that neither has been able to get the necessary medical and surgical procedure done.

These young women are due to sit their leaving certificate examinations in 2010 and were happy to be advised by Our Lady's Hospital for Sick Children in Crumlin that their operations would take place in April and June of this year which would give them time to recover and enable them to study for their exams without pain or the distraction that their illness causes. One young girl has been on the waiting list for three and a half years. Due to cutbacks and ward closures imposed by the Health Service Executive, HSE, however, one student has had her operation cancelled and no alternative date has been given. The other student has been given a provisional date for June of this year but with no guarantee that the operation will be done then. If either family could afford it, their respective daughters would be attended to almost immediately as private patients for €85,000 each. As a matter of urgency I request the Minister to ensure that both these girls have their operations carried out before the new school term in September 2009.

One of these young women might have been spared this trauma if screening for this disease was available as promised when she was a first year pupil. She must now look forward to enduring a severe operation but is uncertain when it will take place. The other young woman has been told by her consultant that at her age if the operation is not done quickly she may require a subsequent operation down the line. It is heartbreaking for a young woman in these circumstances to be given a date for such an operation only to find it cancelled at short notice. There is something seriously wrong with our health services when the system cannot meet the medical needs of two bright girls who only want to get on with their lives.

I regret to say that I have been unable to get a meaningful response from the Minister, who is normally very understanding of these matters, and it goes without saying that I have been completely unable to extract any meaningful reply from the HSE, which really is shameful.

John Moloney (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

I apologise to Deputy Rabbitte for the fact that the Minister, Deputy Harney, cannot be available to respond to this Adjournment matter. I am therefore taking it on behalf of the Minister.

Our Lady's Children's Hospital in Crumlin is Ireland's largest paediatric hospital and provides a wide range of secondary and tertiary paediatric care. A significant portion of paediatric orthopaedic practice at Crumlin involves evaluation and management of children and adolescents with spinal deformity. The condition presents when children and adolescents are growing rapidly and may be progressive in childhood. The progression relates to growth and is particularly seen in early childhood, one to five years, and during rapid adolescent growth.

The hospital has a long-established programme for casting and bracing children less than five to eight years of age, as spinal deformity may be a major challenge when their lungs and chest organs are going through a critical phase in development. In older children and adolescents, the optimal treatment is often one operation called "instrumented deformity correction and fusion". Patients suitable for this operation are prioritised for surgery based on clinical need.

I understand that it would not be appropriate to discuss the specific circumstances of individual cases, such as those raised by Deputy Rabbitte. However, I understand that the authorities at Crumlin are seeking to agree arrangements with the National Treatment Purchase Fund for a number of patients to be treated as soon as possible. I would hope that early progress can be made in this regard. The HSE and the three Dublin paediatric hospitals are also having discussions with a view to establishing the potential to improve the existing arrangements for the provision of paediatric orthopaedic services generally.

I thank the Deputy for raising the matter and I wish I could be more forthcoming in my response.