Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald said there was clinical confirmation that one child had surgery that was not needed.
She queried if the numbers involved were “hundreds or more” — and said one case of concern involved a child, now aged 20, who had durgery in 2010.
“Every single day our offices are receiving communication from parents in distress,” Ms McDonald said. “They’re left asking themselves the gut wrenching question, was my child one of those operated on unnecessarily?”
One case was a child aged only three when they had surgery, she said. “This is the first parent to tell me that they have now received clinical confirmation that their child didn’t need the operation performed on them at a CHI hospital three years ago.
“This parent has now been told by a surgeon, having reviewed the scans, that their child’s hips were fine. The surgeon says that they would not have performed the surgery.
“I think we need to let this sink in — clinical confirmation that this child’s surgery was not needed. This parent is absolutely devastated. She told me that she can’t believe what’s happened. She describes it as like a horror film.”
Another mother who reached out after she received a letter tells of a son who had his left hip operated on in 2018, but was told his right hip was fine, she said.
“He was called back, however, in 2021 and told that the right hip did, in fact, require surgery despite displaying no issues.
“So she took the medical advice. She describes this as a devastating decision. She tells us her son’s life deteriorated dramatically following this operation. He now suffers serious health complications and catastrophic consequences from the surgery.
“The mother is overwhelmed thinking that her child’s surgery might not have been needed at all. We’ve also a parent who received a letter about surgery had by their child in 2010.
“That’s 15 years ago. So does this scandal go back that far?”
Taoiseach Micheál Martin said in reply that there was an “extremely serious situation which has necessitated an external audit.”
For any child to go through surgery was a trauma, as it is for parents, but if it emerges that a child went through surgery that was not required, “it is a scandal in itself,” Mr Martin admitted.
But he said the Minister has not received any final draft or the completion of the audit, which made it difficult to comment “on a piecemeal basis.”
He said he was not in a postition to do so, but CHI and Cappagh had issued letters in rtecent weeks, he confirmed.
He said he would like to see the audit completed as soon as possible now, and he understood it was in its final stages.
“We simply have to assemble all of the facts on a systematic basis and then consider the actions on foot of that.”
#clinical #confirmation #child #corrective #hip #surgery #wasnt #needed #Mary #Lou #McDonald #tells #Dáil
