The Health Department’s decision to send children overseas for spinal surgeries exhibits a significant failure of the system. Several children are anticipated to travel to the Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital in New York and Great Ormond Street Hospital in London in the upcoming months for spinal surgeries, tackling conditions such as scoliosis. This work plan, presented to the Cabinet by the Health Minister, Stephen Donnelly, last week, should help pacify this emotionally charged issue concerning the upcoming election; however, it would be unjust to label it as a mere election stunt.
The steps are a long-due endeavour to reduce the backlog for paediatric spinal surgeries, including those linked with painful and hazardous health conditions. The latest data from September reveals 249 children are pending on the waitlist, with 145 of them actively awaiting their surgery date, and 90 waiting for over three months. The goal is to decrease the number of children waiting over four months to 20 by the end of the year.
The amount spent on transferring children abroad for spinal surgeries hasn’t been revealed yet, but it’s predicted to be substantial. Nevertheless, it’s vital to weigh the human cost experienced by children and their families due to postponed surgeries while analysing the situation. The concentration now must be on assuring the plan’s success and preventing the reversal of waitlists to inadmissibly high levels.
According to Donnelly, the permanent answer lies in a specialised spinal service for kids. However, it’s worrying that there’s no satisfactory explanation for how the current predicament occurred. Besides the Covid pandemic being a definite element, it alone cannot be blamed. A number of parallel factors labelled under the umbrella term of underinvestment in facilities and staff are also pointed out.
Despite a €19 million commitment made for children’s spinal surgery post-Covid, it fell short of creating the anticipated impact, indicating additional issues in this healthcare segment worthy of further examination.