THE Government plan to disband a taskforce aimed at ending the wait list nightmare for children in need of spinal surgeries.
They will pull the plug less than one year after it was set up — despite members insisting their work isn’t done.
Former Health Minister Stephen Donnelly set up the Paediatric Spinal Taskforce last March.
It was in response to rising waiting lists for surgeries for conditions like scoliosis and spina bifida.
Barrister Mark Connaughton was appointed chair, with the body also including advocacy groups and Children’s Health Ireland docs and officials.
But the Department of Health plans to wind down the taskforce this year as they believe “sufficient progress will be made in 2025”.
A briefing note sent to new Health Minister Jennifer Carroll MacNeill advised that the chair will “steer the work of the taskforce to conclusion in 2025”.
Asked why the group is being axed, the Department told us: “It is expected that sufficient progress can be made in 2025 for the taskforce to meet its terms and that current arrangements can move into a new phase.”
Despite this, Minister Carroll MacNeill this week admitted “there is more work to do on this” when grilled on CHI missing surgery targets.
Ahead of the General Election that saw Donnelly lose his seat, the former Health Minister repeatedly claimed the number of kids left waiting for spinal surgery longer than four months would fall to 20 by the end of 2024.
However, figures show 37 children are still waiting over six months for ops — including 15 waiting over a year.
Spina Bifida Hydrocephalus Ireland CEO Gerry Maguire said the taskforce should not be wound down until after the new National Children’s Hospital is up and running.
He said: “The taskforce was always a necessity brought about by years of neglect by Government to people living with spina bifida.
“I really would be staunchly against any talk of winding down the taskforce until a trusted model of transition from childhood to adulthood services is in place and the new hospital is open and completely catering for needs of the children I represent.”
Our Kids Can’t Wait Campaign
WAITING lists in Ireland have long been a national disgrace.
More than 106,000 children are on hospital waiting lists for all treatments. However, a new source of shame has emerged as 327 children wait for life changing spinal surgeries.
Their conditions are getting worse while they languish on waiting lists.
Such are the delays, many child patients will be outside the therapeutic window when their treatments are approved.
Earlier this month, the Seanad heard how at least one child has become permanently paralysed since the issue was raised publicly before Christmas.
Their plight has been spearheaded by campaigning Senator Tom Clonan, who himself has a child with a disability.
Former Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has even admitted that the health service is failing these kids.
Children are being allowed to deteriorate due to mismanagement, which has allowed the waiting lists to grow.
The Irish Sun’s Kids Can’t Wait campaign aims to shine a light on how the State is failing sick children and give their families a voice.
It will also force the Government to do something to clear the backlog of operations and give these children a chance of living a normal life.
