The Taoiseach has voiced concern following revelations around orthopaedic surgery at a Dublin children’s hospital.
An external review into spinal surgery at Temple Street Hospital has been ordered by the Health Service Executive (HSE) following a number of poor outcomes including the death of a child.
It follows the publication of a Children’s Health Ireland (CHI) report on spinal surgery for spina bifida patients at the hospital.
Speaking to media in New York on Tuesday, Leo Varadkar said the more he reads about it, the more concerned he is.
“I don’t want to jump to conclusions because this will have to be investigated properly and thoroughly. I know there’s going to be an examination by the Medical Council as well,” he said.
Concerns had been raised over poor clinical outcomes of some complex spinal surgeries including a high incidence of post-operative complications and infections.
That probe was prompted after two serious post-operative surgical incidents in spinal surgery were reported in CHI at Temple Street in July and September.
CHI commissioned serious incident investigations into these two events which are currently in progress.
In addition, concerns about spinal surgery outcomes had also been raised by members of the Spina Bifida multidisciplinary team to their clinical director and the CHI chief medical officer between September and November 2022.
The HSE said these reviews examined the care provided by one consultant to 17 children who had complex spinal surgery in CHI at Temple Street.
Of these 17 children, one child sadly died since, and a number of other children suffered significant post-operative complications.
A further two families were affected by the issue of unauthorised devices being used in a small number of spinal surgery procedures, bringing to 19 the total number of families contacted by CHI over the issues.
In its report, CHI said an analysis of 16 case files showed that 13 of the 16 patients (81.2 per cent) required further unplanned surgery.
Patients with minor complications that did not need further surgery had superficial wound problems that were managed with oral antibiotics or nurse-lead wound care in the outpatient department.
The internal analysis showed the overall infection rate for these 16 cases was 73.4 per cent based on microbiology and clinical findings; and the overall rate of wound complication requiring further surgery was 75 per cent.
Overall, nine of the 16 of cases (56 per cent) had mechanical complications of metal work requiring removal.
Ireland has one of the highest incidences of spina bifida in the world, with an overall incidence of approximately one in 1,000 live births.
It is estimated that there are currently just under 500 children with spina bifida in Ireland.
The HSE said it had commissioned a UK expert to lead an external review into paediatric orthopaedic surgical services at Temple Street.
CHI has opened a helpline for patients and their families who are on spinal surgery lists at Temple Street.
The helpline, 01 409 6117, will be open on Monday to Friday, from 9am to 5pm.
