Families will be asked for input to get child spinal inquiry ‘right’ – Tánaiste
By Gráinne Ní Aodha, PA
The Government will work with families on the terms of reference for a public inquiry into the care of children with scoliosis and spina bifida “to get this right”, the Tánaiste has said.
Simon Harris said he has been “crystal clear” on the need for a statutory, public inquiry and that a memo would be brought to Cabinet this week.
He spoke after a meeting during the week with the parents of Harvey Sherratt, a nine-year-old boy with scoliosis and spina bifida, who died in July after waiting years for spinal surgery.
Harvey’s parents, Stephen Morrison and Gillian Sherratt, have said that in the time he waited for surgery, the curve in his spine went from 75 degrees to 130 degrees.
By the time he was operated on last December, the curve had reached the point where it could not be fully corrected, and had caused his rib cage to twist around his lungs and heart, severely restricting his breathing.
Last weekend, The Sunday Times newspaper reported allegations that Harvey was taken off a surgery waiting list in 2024 because Children’s Health Ireland (CHI) believed he was a palliative patient.
Mr Harris said on Saturday that he and the Health Minister, Jennifer Carroll MacNeill, had a “good meeting” with Harvey’s parents and representative groups at Government Buildings on Wednesday.
“What we now intend to do is, the Minister for Health will bring forward a memo to government this week setting out that that’s our intention, and then also seeking to appoint a facilitator to work with the families and their representatives on terms of reference to get this right,” he said, speaking from Co Kildare.
Harvey’s parents, opposition politicians and campaigners have called on Mr Harris, the Tánaiste and former minister for health, to step down after he pledged in 2017 that no child would wait more than four months for scoliosis treatment.
Mr Harris said on Saturday: “Back in 2017 I gave a commitment in good faith that was given to me by the HSE – and if you look back at the Oireachtas committee, the then-director general of the HSE, as you’ll recall, gave that commitment to me, you’ll recall tweeted about it many, many, many times, you’ll recall gave evidence to the Oireachtas health committee many times – as did the then CEO of the CHI, but I also gave that commitment.
“While that commitment resulted in many more children getting surgeries, and you saw the number of surgeries increase, it never reached where I desperately wanted it to go, and successive ministers continue to keep that as a target.
“I do believe, though, and whilst I fully accept political accountability in relation to that – and have discussed this in elections and the likes on many occasions and rightly so – I do believe, though, that there’s very serious issues above and beyond that, related to the spinal surgeries that have been brought to our attention and indeed yours, by families.
“A whole variety of issues in relation to CHI and indeed pre-dating CHI as well.”
He said: “I know the families share this view – alongside that important piece of work and a lot of unanswered, concerning, public interest questions – alongside that, there’s also a need in the here and now to look at what more can be done to address concerns.
“And I know that clinical piece of work the Minister for Health is eager to take forward in parallel.”
