Health

Children’s hospital bosses told to extend theatre opening hours to allow for more spinal operations

Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly instructs CHI to ring-fence capacity for children’s operations

Temple Street is among three children's hospitals carrying out more procedures than before the pandemic. Photograph: Niall Carson/PA

Paul Cullen
Sun May 5 2024 - 05:00

Children’s hospital managers have been told to extend the opening hours of operating theatres to allow for more operations on children with scoliosis.

Amid continuing controversy over long spinal surgery waiting lists, Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly has instructed the board of Children’s Health Ireland (CHI) to allow spinal surgeons greater access to carry out operations.

Mr Donnelly has also told the board to ringfence capacity for children who need spinal procedures.

The Minister issued the instructions in a letter to CHI chairman Prof Jim Browne after hearing from spinal surgeons that they could carry out more procedures if the hospital opened its theatres over a longer day, as happens routinely in the private sector.

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Although all staff, including nurses, are on contracts that allow for an extended working day, the theatres are used only during “office” hours for planned surgeries.

Mr Donnelly’s intervention with the CHI board comes as the paediatric spinal taskforce he announced last March held its first meeting on Thursday. The meeting of the taskforce, chaired by Mark Connaughton SC, was attended by hospital surgeons and administrators. Some patient groups attended while others, who have branded it a “PR exercise”, did not.

“The meeting gave me hope that, collectively, we can work to make things better for children with spinal conditions,” said Deirdre McDonnell, who attended the meeting for Scoliosis Awareness & Support Ireland.

CHI has completed an international tender for outsourcing some work overseas and is now clinically assessing the proposals received. While options for outsourcing and insourcing are being examined, these are unlikely to be suitable for all patients due to the surgical specialisation involved.

Last month, there were 251 children on the spinal surgery waiting list, down from 270 in March. Last year, the number of patients waiting for surgery for more than four months fell 13 per cent.

Surgeons in Crumlin, Temple Street and Cappagh hospitals are carrying out more procedures than before the pandemic. The 464 spinal procedures performed in 2023 represented a 22 per cent increase on 2019. However, this has been offset by big increases in demand and referrals, with 43 per cent more children being added to the spinal fusion surgery list in 2023 compared to 2018. The Minister has told CHI that further reductions are needed.

In 2022, the Minister allocated €19 million to spinal surgery with the intention that no child should have to wait more than four months. After the target was missed, he said he had significant concerns over how the money was spent and asked the Health Service Executive to carry out an audit.

Mr Donnelly chaired a meeting with HSE chief executive Bernard Gloster, Department of Health secretary general Robert Watt and senior officials running the paediatric spinal service earlier this week.

Paul Cullen

Paul Cullen

Paul Cullen is a former heath editor of The Irish Times.

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