Bobby Aylward (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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365. To ask the Minister for Health why braces for the treatment of scoliosis are not funded in all hospitals, given their obvious importance to patients, especially children; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4259/16]

Bobby Aylward (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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366. To ask the Minister for Health the hospitals which fund braces for treatment of scoliosis and those which do not; the reasons why not; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4260/16]

Bobby Aylward (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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370. To ask the Minister for Health if children with scoliosis who urgently require serial casts as a result of growth will be prioritised for magnetic resonance imagery scanning; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4264/16]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 365, 366 and 370 together.

Long waiting times for scoliosis surgery are unacceptable. I have been clear in my determination that these waiting times are to be addressed as a priority, through additional resources and capacity.

Our Lady’s Children’s Hospital, Crumlin is the largest provider of scoliosis surgery for children and young people. Funding was allocated in 2015 for additional consultant posts including two consultant orthopaedic surgeons, anaesthetist and support staff including at Crumlin while capital funding was also provided for a new theatre on site to expand theatre capacity further. The 2016 Service Plan specifically provides for support for the new theatre capacity and the continued development of paediatric scoliosis services to address ongoing capacity deficits.

In order to address waiting times in the interim, patients from Crumlin have been transferred to other hospitals where capacity is available and where that is clinically appropriate. These include Temple Street, Cappagh, Tallaght and the Blackrock Clinic. External capacity has also been identified at the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital at Stanmore in the UK. As a result of this initiative, 94 scoliosis surgeries were carried out in 2015, 42% more than in 2014. The Department of Health is continuing to work with the HSE, the Children’s Hospital Group and the hospitals themselves to ensure that we continue to make strong progress in addressing this issue and to identify all options to increase capacity to further improve access times for surgery.

In relation to the specific case raised, I have asked the HSE to respond to you directly. If you have not received a reply from the HSE within 15 working days please contact my Private Office and my officials will follow the matter up.