Heart-op children face hospital trips despite report fears

CHILDREN in need of heart surgery are still undergoing unnecessary journeys to and from hospital despite an expert recommendation that such trips should be eliminated.

Almost four months after the publication of a report which looked into the death of Limerick toddler Róisín Ruddle after her surgery was deferred, one of its key recommendations has not been implemented.

The report called for an end to the practice by Our Lady’s Hospital for Sick Children in Crumlin of requiring children scheduled for heart surgery on a Monday to attend the hospital the previous Wednesday for pre-operative assessment, followed by discharge and re-admittance at the weekend.

Instead, it recommended the assessment be carried out at the weekend. The report warned frequent long journeys were “not ideal” for children with heart conditions.

In Róisín’s case, she had to make an additional trip home after her surgery was cancelled due to a shortage of intensive care nurses. She died the following day.

A statement from the Department of Health at the weekend said the hospital and the Health Service Executive were “exploring” proposals to implement this particular recommendation.

Labour Health spokeswoman Liz McManus said the real problem was that a new hospital was needed at Crumlin, with extra bed capacity “that would avoid children being sent home and being brought back in again”.

The Department of Health issued a timetable in October 2003 which said on-site construction work would begin in 2007.

The department is looking at identifying alternative sites because of fears that on-site redevelopment would prove too disruptive and too costly.

Just four of the Ruddle report’s 13 recommendations have been implemented and relate largely to addressing nursing staff shortages, including the appointment of a nurse manager to manage nursing recruitment and a clinical bed manager.

However, a recommendation to introduce a standby roster of on-call ICU nurses is still being worked on. A statement from the Department of Health said plans have been developed for the implementation of a further five of the recommendations, including facilitating arrangements whereby critical issues are brought to the attention of senior management and to the committee of management at the earliest possible date.