John Curran (Dublin Mid West, Fianna Fail)
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293. To ask the Minister for Health the steps he has taken to reduce waiting lists for children in the Children's Hospital Group since a programme (details supplied), detailed the seriousness these delays are causing in some cases; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9147/17]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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Long waiting times for scoliosis surgery have to be addressed, and the Department has been working closely with the HSE to address service pressures, particularly in Our Lady's Children's Hospital Crumlin, which is the largest provider of scoliosis surgery for children and young people.

Additional funding has been provided in recent years to develop the paediatric orthopaedic services, including scoliosis services. €2m was made available under the Winter Initiative Funding in 2016 and over fifty additional patients have been treated to date under this initiative. As a result of investment, we made some progress but there is much more to do to provide the level service that is needed.

I recently met with the CEO of the Children’s Hospital Group and of Our Lady’s Children’s Hospital Crumlin (OLCHC) to discuss immediate action that can be taken to reduce waiting times for children and adolescents with scoliosis.

While the new theatre in OLCHC was commissioned in 2016, it is only now being used for scoliosis surgery due to challenges with recruiting nurses. The hospital has undertaken an aggressive recruitment drive to attract new theatre nurses with the necessary paediatric training. As a result four new nurses will be in place by April. A further 16 international nurses have been offered posts, and have commenced the registration process. The recruitment of these nurses means that the new theatre will be used to provide the additional capacity for scoliosis procedures in OLCHC from April. This will allow an additional day of procedures to be carried out in the medium term. I am advised by OLCHC that an orthopaedic surgeon post in the hospital will also be filled by June. This means that from July, the hospital expects that the theatre use will be further increased. In addition I will receive an Action Plan for Scoliosis from the HSE by the end of February which will take on board the concerns of the advocacy groups.