The father of a child who waited three-years for scoliosis surgery has said the situation is “only getting worse”. 

Scoliosis is a a sideways curvature of the spine that is usually diagnosed in adolescents; in some cases, doctors will refer patients for surgery.

Today, HIQA published a report that found unapproved implantable springs were used during three children’s spinal surgeries at Temple Street Children's University Hospital in Dublin. 

As a result, the children were “not protected from the risk of harm" and Children's Health Ireland chairperson Dr Jim Browne announced his resignation. 

On The Hard Shoulder, Tony Foley, whose son Ronan waited three-years for his surgery, said he was “not at all” surprised by the findings of the report and that scoliosis patients have been let down by the health service for years. 

“We were told in October 2017 that our child would be waiting no longer than three-months or so,” he said. 

“The Minister for Health at the time, Simon Harris, assured any child waiting for scoliosis intervention surgery they would not be waiting more than three-months at that time. 

“Three-years later, to cut a long story short, in December 2020, our son had surgery. 

“His curvature had developed 125 degrees at that stage and we were told that if it had gone much further than that, there would have been no benefit to doing the surgery.” 

Ronan Foley. Image: Supplied.

Mr Foley added that his son went through “pain and discomfort” before his surgery and was also hospitalised. 

“Since he had that surgery in December 2020, Ronan has not been in hospital once since,” he said. 

“His general health is absolutely fantastic since. 

“We often look back now and think that what he has now could have been taken away from him and it would have been totally unnecessary because an inhumane wait that he was put through.” 

Ronan Foley. Image: Supplied.

The Irish Times reported there were 233 children waiting for surgery at the end of February and Mr Foley described it as “absolutely ridiculous” so many are waiting for the procedure. 

“There’s no improvement whatsoever in the situation,” he said. 

“It’s only getting worse.” 

In a statement to Newstalk, the Department of Health said there has been "significant additional investment" in tackling waiting lists for scoliosis surgery. 

Main image: Ronan Foley. Image: Supplied.