TD calls for suspensions in light of CHI audit of children's hip ops

People Before Profit-Solidarity TD Paul Murphy. Picture: Niall Carson/PA 

Immediate action should be taken to suspend the surgeons involved in the hip surgery audit report, an opposition TD has said.

People Before Profit-Solidarity TD Paul Murphy said surgeons made the choice to operate on children and, in some cases, it may have been unnecessary. This is where the focus must be, he said, calling for those involved to be “at the very least” suspended from carrying out further osteotomies.

Discussions around wider issues within the hospitals and Children’s Health Ireland (CHI) cannot serve to distract from this, said Mr Murphy.

Health minister Jennifer Carroll MacNeill acknowledged that “we are having these series of debates because of the decision making of individual consultant surgeons”.

There are issues surrounding governance and oversight, but it is important not to detract focus from the individual decision making and accountability that is appropriate for the surgeons making decisions about small children, she said.

Ms Carroll MacNeill moved to assure that the terms of reference for the expert panel have been agreed by Government, and the work of choosing the independent experts will be done with urgency.

Sinn Féin health spokesperson David Cullinane said the issues the Government is now seeking to address are not new, with parents, patients, and advocates having previously tried to raise them only to be met with “a wall of silence”.

The series of controversies is having a detrimental impact on the public’s trust in CHI, he said, and parents are still in the dark about many aspects.

“Parents are asking, on all of these issues, how is that allowed to happen for so long? How is it that surgeons failed?”

Mr Cullinane said that they feel let down by CHI.

While parents said they were grateful that a hotline was set up following the publication of the audit, they reported that those on the other end were unable to answer their questions.

Fianna Fáil TD Erin McGreehan told of one mother who had to spell the word Cappagh to the person on the phone, saying “it does not instil confidence”.