There are ‘significant concerns’ about how the HSE spent €19 million it was given to reduce spinal surgery waiting lists, the Health Minister has told Newstalk Breakfast.

Stephen Donnelly said the funding was specifically intended to improve children’s orthopaedic services – and ensure no child was left waiting longer than four months for spinal surgery.

He has now asked the HSE to carry out an audit of what the money was spent on.

In recent weeks, Newstalk has spoken to several parents whose children have been left waiting months for life-saving spinal surgeries – including one family that now plans to move abroad to access care.

In the Dáil last night, Sinn Féin accused the Government of failing to deliver on commitments it made to children requiring surgery for scoliosis and other orthopaedic conditions.

Spinal surgery

Minister Stephen Donnelly told Newstalk Breakfast this morning that the waiting lists are unacceptable.

“It's not good enough and the first thing I said last night when I responded to the motion was, I’m not standing up here to defend the current situation,” he said.

“The current situation is not acceptable. It hasn't been acceptable for a long time.

“I've met many of these children. I've met their parents and there is no defending the delays in accessing care.”

Funding

He said he was told in 2022 that the extra €19 million in funding would ensure no child was left waiting longer than four months.

He said that after speaking to patients and clinicians he became concerned they were “not getting the resources that the Government and I very clearly wanted them to get”.

“Let me give you an example, there have been a number of additional beds added to Children's Health Ireland,” he said. “I think 22 to 24 beds have now been opened using this money.

“From my perspective, those beds were very clearly to be used for children's orthopaedics with a big focus on spinal.

“What I was being told was, well, maybe some of them are but there are no dedicated orthopaedic beds and some of the beds have been opened beside the emergency department for general use.

“On the back of that, I contacted the chief executive of the HSE and I said I want you to send in the HSE's audit team, I want a full account of how this €19 million has been spent.

“So, I don't want to prejudice the work that they're going to do, I don't want to jump to any conclusions – but I have significant concerns based on what I've heard from the families and from the clinicians and I want to see exactly where that money has gone.”

Waiting lists

The Minister said there has been a “modest fall” in the number of children waiting for spinal surgeries in recent years.

“Last year, we now have 78 children waiting more than the more than the four months,” he said. “It fell by 13% but it was meant to fall by much more.

“One of the reasons it didn't fall as much is there was a very big increase in the number of children referred on to the lists.

“Believe it or not, versus 2018, last year there was a 40% increase.”

Minister Donnelly said the HSE has now hired a “highly experienced new clinical lead who's going to be leading the transformation of these services”.

He said the Government is immediately making new funding available to the new clinical lead.