PARENTS OF CHILDREN waiting years for life-saving and life-changing orthopaedic surgery urged the Minister for Health today to disband the board and executive of Children’s Health Ireland (CHI), after it emerged last week that it did not use all of a government fund for spinal surgeries that was allocated to it to tackle spinal surgery waiting lists.

The OrthoKids Ireland patient advocacy group said Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly must now “remove the current CHI Board and leadership to create a structure that prioritises children’s care”.

A final report is awaited into a HSE (Health Service Executive) audit of CHI’s spend of the monies in question.

Orthokids Ireland, which was formed by parents of the children impacted, said it has sought the removal of the CHI management “due to the consistent failure of the Board and Executive to fulfill their duties of corporate governance, including the mismanagement of allocated funds, failure to provide necessary services, and neglect of the children’s well-being”.

Pledges made in 2017 by former health minister, and now Taoiseach, Simon Harris, that no child would wait longer than four months for spinal surgery, have not being fulfilled.

Orthokids Ireland also called for Minister Donnelly to “establish a new, independent inquiry into CHI’s governance and operations”.

The group said an “interim CEO with a track record of effective leadership in healthcare” should be appointed to temporarily oversee CHI, and that Minister Donnelly needed to “develop a comprehensive plan to address the chronic staffing shortages in CHI hospitals”.

“CHI has yet to invest the money on the service it was intended for.

The Minister and the Government must act now in the interest of the children.”

Orthokids also called for Minister Donnelly to “accelerate” an independent external review of outcomes for patients at CHI “so that Mr Connor Green – a consultant paediatric surgeon at Temple Street Childrens’ Hospital – can return to practice and address the complex needs of our children”.

Green, who is considered to be the country’s most qualified consultant paediatric surgeon in limb reconstruction surgery, is part of an international group of surgeons who have traveled to Ukraine to teach local surgeons how to perform complex limb reconstruction surgery for soldiers and civilians seriously injured as a result of the Russian invasion.

Orthokids said concerns around the allocation of the €19m funding to Temple Street hospital were first raised by Green in 2022.

In 2021, Green, alongside Professor Damian McCormack, told a Health Oireachtas Committee that a lack of staff, surgical theatres and ICU beds, had resulted in ongoing suffering for children who were being left on surgical waiting lists for years – sparking an apology by CHI for inadequate services.

Professor McCormack, who is the lead consultant surgeon in paediatric orthopaedics at Temple Street, said an extra theatre has since been built with funding, but he said that long waits for surgery have continued due to a lack of suitably qualified surgeons, staff and ICU beds and that this has in turn led to ongoing surgery cancellations and deferrals.

Mr Green was referred to the Irish Medical Counsel last September after CHI said concerns had been raised about outcomes of Temple Street paediatric patients.

A separate external review of the circumstances into the use of medically unapproved spring devices in three Temple Street patients is also underway.

However, Orthokids Ireland parents of children that had been under Green, but who are continuing to suffer prolonged delays in receiving surgery as he has not worked in Temple Street for the past 12 months, called for him to return to work.

“We believe that the only surgeon with the specific skills to manage the care of our children was sidelined because he identified that the €19 million Government funds allocated specifically for the treatment of these children was not used to reduce the theatre waiting list,” Orthokids Ireland claimed.

“His absence continues to cause pain on a minute-to-minute basis on our children, who immediately need his specialised care”.

“Irreparable damage is inflicted daily while CHI’s Board and management continue to prevent Mr Connor Green operating in Temple St or Cappagh Hospital,” Orthokids added.

CHI has not responded to a request for comment.