Families of Temple Street spinal surgery patients 'going through hell' — solicitor

It comes as the HSE on Monday announced an external review into spinal surgeries involving 19 children at CHI at Temple Street. It has emerged:

• One of those children has died. 
• Three children had an unauthorised device implanted during treatment, and others experienced an unusually high rate of post-operation complications and the need for unplanned further surgery. 
• The consultant at the centre of the controversy is, according to Children's Health Ireland (CHI), "in a HR process and is on leave but not suspended".
• The clinician ceased complex spinal surgery in CHI last November, ceased all spinal surgery in May 2023, and ceased all surgeries in July 2023. 
• Complex spinal surgery for spina bifida has stopped in CHI at Temple Street and patients transferred to CHI at Crumlin. 
• 261 children are now waiting for spinal surgery across CHI sites.

Children now face having to travel abroad for spinal surgery amid fears long waiting lists for the operations will grow in the wake of the latest scandal to hit the health service.

Mr Tansey is also representing the family of Dollceanna Carter, a 10-year-old girl with spina bifida and scoliosis who died in September 2022 after a series of operations at Temple Street Children's Hospital.

Dollceanna was one of the 19 children who are part of the internal review of spinal surgical procedures ordered by the HSE. However, there are other families, represented by Mr Tansey, who want the scope of the review to be expanded to include a wider time frame.

“The nature of this treatment involves at times surgeries carried out over a period of years and very often where there is a failure in the surgery, further surgery is required. Now, the report has revealed that of all of the 16 cases that were reviewed, 81% of those cases, 13 of those 16 patients after the surgery required further unplanned surgery," Mr Tansey told RTÉ Radio One.

“That figure is shocking. It's alarming and it's mostly most troubling. And of course, there will be failures of surgery, but to have 81% of the surgeries fail is an extreme figure and has led to all of these issues.

“The second compelling figure from the report which has emerged this week is the level of infection post-surgery. That's at 75%. And the final is the incidence of cases requiring metal work to be removed. That was found in nine of the 16 cases, 56%.

“Those figures are unheard of in the surgical sphere. And they're indicative of there having been a major problem.” 

More than a blanket apology would be needed by the families, added Mr Tansey. The children involved would require specialised remedial surgery in some cases — who was going to provide that, he asked. In each case there would have to be a review of their case so that a solution could be put in place, he added.

“Ireland simply doesn't have the personnel that's needed to remedy the ills which have been done here. We need support from beyond this island and I want to know who's going to put that in place. I'm not confident that that process has been started comprehensively the way it now needs to be.” 

The families want to know how the issue persisted within Temple Street Hospital for so long and how unauthorised medical devices “ended up in their children’s backs”.

“Where do they come from? Who paid for them? Who delivered them to the operating theatres? It beggars belief. So they want to know how that happened.

“The oversight function collapsed within Temple Street hospital.”