Surgeons alarmed by theatre closures at children's hospital

SURGEONS AT the Children’s University Hospital on Temple Street have privately warned that theatre closures are putting patients at risk.

Confidential internal minutes of a meeting of the hospital’s surgery division earlier this month show alarm among senior staff that cutbacks are resulting in surgeons being placed in situations “inconsistent with safe surgical practice”.

In addition, it states that surgery is being inappropriately performed out of hours and that surgeons “do not wish to be complicit with arrangements” that are putting patients at risk.

One of the four operating theatres at Temple Street has been closed as part of a cost-containment plan agreed by the hospital board to address a significant budget deficit, believed to be nearly €10 million.

The hospital said yesterday that management was working with clinical staff to ensure there were no risks to patients and it would “continue to provide the best possible care to its patients within the resources allocated to it.

“Whilst there has been a 25 per cent reduction in operating theatre capacity, hospital management and clinicians are working together to ensure there is minimal impact on our patients awaiting surgery.”

The hospital said that between January and April last year 2,279 surgeries were performed. During the same period this year, there were 2,276, a reduction of just three surgeries. It matched resources to address seasonal demands to ensure there is “negligible disruption” to theatre schedules.

However, minutes of the hospital’s surgery division state that as a result of cutbacks there is no provision for daytime emergency surgery. It says that surgical cases are being referred to the special delivery unit – the body tasked with bringing down hospital waiting times – because the hospital’s operational capacity has been forcibly reduced.

“Members of the division are currently being placed in situations inconsistent with safe surgical practice and recognise an increase in stress levels among colleagues in the operating department,” the minutes state.

“They express anger and frustration that patients and clinicians bear the brunt of the effects of theatre closures with no demonstrable benefit. The current situation is not tolerable and the division members will not condone the status quo.”

The hospital is facing a budget cut of 1.2 per cent this year. The Health Service Executive in Dublin-Mid-Leinster has said that its service plan for this year protected paediatric hospitals. This meant the budget cut for Temple Street “was significantly less than the average”.

On average hospitals have seen their budgets cut by 4.4 per cent – but when deficits carried over from last year are taken into account, in some cases spending reductions of nearly 8 per cent have been required.

There has been controversy over the effect of budget cuts and potential fines for hospitals which fail to treat patients within set timeframes.