Mother’s anguish: Daughter ‘should have been operated on sooner’

THE mother of a little girl at the centre of the controversy over cutbacks at Our Lady’s Children’s Hospital in Dublin wept when HSE chief Prof Brendan Drumm insisted that scoliosis surgery would be prioritised by the hospital.

Prof Drumm said the health authority would be working with the hospital to ensure that 67 patients with scoliosis would have their surgery completed “without delay”.

Last weekend, doctors in London were forced to postpone surgery on Jamie Murphy, 11, from Graiguenamanagh, Co Kilkenny, to correct a severe curvature of her spine because the risk was considered to be too high.

The child’s mother Emer and her aunt, Triona O’Brien, were present when Prof Drumm appeared before a meeting of the Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children to update members about Crumlin Hospital.

Emer wiped tears from her eyes as Triona described how Jamie’s quality of life has been destroyed because of the delay in treating her severe and deteriorating scoliosis.

“We do not think the hospital (Crumlin) has been dealing with urgent cases like Jamie, who now has a curve of more than 80 degrees,” said Ms O’Brien.

The surgeon at Great Ormond Street Hospital told the family that a child like Jamie should have been operated on when the curve reached 50 degrees.

“Jamie can only take short gasps of air now, so her lungs are never fully extended. Her condition is atrocious. She cannot sit up and she cannot get comfortable,” said Ms O’Brien.

The little girl is now being treated at home with a machine that is helping to temporarily expand her lungs so she will be able to withstand the operation in London at a later date.

An anonymous benefactor has offered to pay for Jamie’s surgery bill that could cost up to €150,000.