THE AVERAGE WAIT time for a children’s outpatient spinal appointment has decreased from 7.4 months to 3.9 months since this time last year.

Meanwhile, the number of spinal surgeries carried out between January and July surpassed the number added to the wait list in the same timeframe.

In July, 104 children needing surgery were waiting on an outpatient appointment. Pre-operative assessments must be completed before their surgery can be scheduled.

Some 12 children have been given a date for surgery, while 36 others already underwent procedures and are waiting for the next steps in their care plan. Some patients need more than one procedure.

The figures by Children’s Health Ireland (CHI) also show 99.5% of patients now wait less than a year for an appointment, and anyone waiting longer has been given an appointment date.

Additional capacity, including weekend clinics, has contributed to the reduced wait times, CHI said.

Since January, some 229 people have been added to the surgical wait list. In the same period 279 spinal surgeries were carried out.

“Every effort” will be made to achieve the target of 540 procedures by the end of 2026, CHI said, “however our overall aim is to reduce waiting time for patients”.

In 2017, then-health minister Simon Harris promised that no child would wait more than four months for surgery to treat scoliosis. For years, the government faced scrutiny for failing to make this a reality.

In 2024, the HSE began sending children overseas for surgery to prevent them languishing on a list. Since then, 19 patients have been treated abroad.

Dave Moore, head of the spinal surgery management unit at CHI, said patients are prioritised based on many factors, including their diagnosis, size of the spinal deformity, and the presence of other conditions.

Their age and “the amount of growth they have left to do” are also considered.

“Behind every number is a child and a family who need our care, and our teams remain focused every day on providing that care as quickly and safely as possible,” he said.

A scoping exercise for a statutory inquiry into CHI’s care of children with scoliosis, spina bifida and hip dysplasia is currently underway.

There has been unhappiness amongst some of the families involved that the process will not be transparent nor cater to the families’ needs. There is also concern around a number of documents concerning CHI that have not been made available to families.

Two organisations, Spina Bifida & Hydrocephalus Paediatric Advocacy Group and the Scoliosis Advocacy Network, pulled out of the scoping exercise as a result. 

Asked if the process will continue if the two larger groups don’t engage with the scoping exercise, health minister Jennifer MacNeill said: “No one parent, no one child, no one group takes precedence over any other”, and added that she would welcome all to participate.