'Hundreds, or even thousands' of children may have had unnecessary hip surgery, Dáil hears 

Speaking during Thursday's Leaders' Questions, Sinn Féin's Pearse Doherty raised an audit, which is examining the criteria for a specific type of hip surgery in young children carried out between 2021 and 2023. Picture: Sam Boal/Collins 

Thousands of children could have undergone painful hip surgeries unnecessarily, the Dáil has been told.

Speaking during Thursday's Leaders' Questions, Sinn Féin's Pearse Doherty raised an audit, which is examining the criteria for a specific type of hip surgery in young children carried out between 2021 and 2023.

The audit has raised concerns as to whether or not surgeries — for hip dysplasia — were needed for the children involved. The audit is separate to the investigation into the use of springs which were not medically cleared.

Mr Doherty told the Dáil that while 561 children must now be independently assessed following the audit, "that is only two years" and pushed the Government to expand the years covered by the investigation. He said that the true number of children affected "could be hundreds or even thousands".

"Just how bad is this? We are being contacted by parents whose children's cases reach back a decade and further. The emails and phone calls keep coming. It looks like 2021 to 2023 is only the tip of the iceberg. It goes way beyond those two years."

Mr Doherty told the chamber that he had been contacted by the parent of a girl who was a patient in Temple Street in 2016 from the age of one up to the age of three. He said a consultant diagnosed the child with hip dysplasia and was "adamant that she needed surgery" which would have required "sawing into her hip bone and reshaping the socket". 

However, because the child had never shown any symptoms, the parents sought a second opinion from a specialist orthopaedic surgeon in the North, the Donegal TD said. It was here that it was discovered that the child did not have any hip condition.

That consultant concluded that their daughter did not need the surgery, as she did not have the condition. He said that he was horrified that a doctor had made such an error of judgment and that he would inquire about it. 

"This was years ago. The parent went on to tell us that the stress they were under during this time was like nothing they had ever experienced before."

Mr Doherty said that the child is now thriving and involved in gymnastics having undergone no surgery.

In response, education minister Helen McEntee said the audit was ongoing and that "at the moment, there is no information to suggest that any patient safety incident has occurred". 

She added that the resignation of CHI chair Dr Jim Browne this week is welcome, but rejected calls for the sacking of the remaining board members.

Later in the session, Áontú's Peadar Tóibín said CHI had cancelled 161 child surgeries due to a shortage of paediatric intensive care beds in Crumlin and Temple Street.

"These are cancellations for very serious operations for children who are very sick. Nine of these cancellations were for heart operations for children. Ten cancellations were for children needing serious orthopaedic surgery," he said.

"It is an incredible figure. There was no clinical reason for the cancellation of these surgeries. The surgeons were there and they were ready. The operating theatres were ready. The equipment was ready. The very sick children were fixed for the surgery but there were simply no beds for these children to recover in. It is an absolute scandal."