Stephen Donnelly 'first alerted to serious spinal surgeries issues in August'
Meet Said Would Health To Impacted Stephen Be He 'more Happy' Donnelly The Minister Families Than
Health Minister Stephen Donnelly was first alerted to serious issues relating to spinal surgeries in Temple Street Hospital in August.
Mr Donnelly has said that both he and HSE chief executive Bernard Gloster still do not know how unauthorised devices got into the hospital and were used on children who underwent spina bifida surgery — one of whom subsequently died.
Speaking at the UN in New York, Mr Donnelly said the review will now be widened to look at spinal surgery across all Children’s Health Ireland (CHI) centres.
Asked when he was first notified that unauthorised devices were used, Mr Donnelly said: "The department was notified of the use of the non-CE springs in the last few weeks, so in August, there was notification to that effect."
However, he could not say how the devices got into the hospital for use in surgeries and the review will establish how this happened.
"I want an explanation. I want a very detailed explanation. And that is what the review is going to ascertain.
"Before any operation, there are various protocols that are gone through to ensure that the equipment being used is the right equipment, is the authorised equipment for any given procedure.
"The chief medical officer is now conducting a very thorough review to establish how exactly this did happen and indeed is there any suggestion that it could have happened anywhere else."
Mr Donnelly defended his decision to travel to the UN, saying: "Whether I'm talking to the chief executive here, or I'm talking to him from the Department of Health is not the issue at hand, the issue at hand is that what needs to happen happens.
"I'm working on this on an hour-by-hour basis. I can assure you that this has my full attention and the things that I in Government believe need to happen in terms of widening the review of publishing those reports are happening.
"The families involved keep raising this issue around communications. But, ultimately, what matters here is that the families and the patients have full information, that there is full transparency, and that we get on with reducing the waiting lists."
He said he would be "more than happy" to meet the families impacted.