The father of a young boy who was removed from the waiting list for scoliosis surgery without his family’s knowledge has labelled the delays in Ireland’s orthopaedic treatment system “one of the worst health scandals of this century”.
Stephen Morrison’s son Harvey suffers from spina bifida, hydrocephalus and scoliosis.
He has spent the last two years on the urgent list for scoliosis surgery because his spine now has a 110-degree curve and “his rib cage is crushing his right lung”.
On Lunchtime Live this afternoon, Stephen said his continually gets bouts of pneumonia, leading to ambulance trips, long stays in ICU and the need for his carers to take time off work.
He said it was ‘absolutely devastating’ to learn that Harvey had been removed from the list – and nobody had thought to tell his family.
“There was a group of parents that received letters to state how the new lists were going to be operating and how they were going to be calculated from now on,” he said.
“We didn't receive one of those letters; all those letters were sent out to parents that were on active waiting lists and we never got that list.
“So we queried with the spinal management team why Harvey was removed from the list and why we didn't receive a letter and they told us that Harvey wasn’t an active scoliosis waiting list.
“It was absolutely [devastating].”
Stephen said they decided to go public with the news because they now know that other children have also been removed from the waiting list without their knowledge.
He said the family was not given any reason for Harvey’s removal from the list – and claimed that the family has contacted the head of Children’s Health Ireland’s Paediatric Spinal Surgery Management Unit ‘numerous times’ but still received no answer to their questions.
Stephen Morrison's son Harvey (Photo by Stephen Morrison)Stephen said Harvey is just one of the children who has been left waiting years for urgent orthopaedic surgery.
“Harvey isn't the only child; we're just one of the families that is willing to go public,” he said.
“There are 280-something children that are still waiting on a list that are going through the exact same thing.
“There's still other orthopaedic conditions that are not being treated in a timely manner.
“You've got kids that are having their legs turned in, you're having kids that are going into wheelchairs that shouldn't be going into wheelchairs.
“Like it is an absolute disaster. It’s probably one of the worst health scandals of this century on children.”
Stephen Morrison's son Harvey (Photo by Stephen Morrison)Stephen said the family is now calling for a full statutory inquiry.
“Nothing else will do at this point,” he said.
“This is absolutely scandalous. The way the State is mistreating our children is beyond an absolute joke.”
He said the families now believe there is no other way to address the problem.
“Like we're being lied to; we're being told that this is going to be fixed but it's been going on for seven years now – seven years,” he said.
“We're just seeing scandal after scandal after scandal and nothing has been done about it.”
Stephen Morrison's son Harvey (Photo by Stephen Morrison)In a statement, Children's Health Ireland said it cannot comment on individual cases.
“Even if a family decides to make their story public, we are still bound by patient confidentiality,” it said.
“A patient's clinical team can speak to the family directly to explore all treatment options available.”
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