Refusal to reveal number of children left with foreign objects inside them during surgeries 'a national scandal'

Aontú leader Peadar Tóibín: 'We are usually provided with a 'less than' figure to indicate a ballpark, but in this case, we don't even get that'. Picture: Stephen Collins/Collins Photos

Children’s Health Ireland has been urged to reveal the number of children who had foreign objects left inside them during paediatric surgeries.

While CHI confirmed in response to queries from Aontú leader Peadar Tóibín that it does record such figures and incidents, it could not reveal how many times this had occurred, due to confidentiality reasons.

Mr Tóibín had asked CHI to confirm if there had been any “recorded incidents within Children’s Health Ireland hospitals where surgical items, including swabs or medical instruments, were unintentionally retained in paediatric patients following procedures”.

He subsequently asked for details of such incidents, the clinical impact they had on the children, and what kinds of reviews are completed following such incidents.

CHI confirmed that any incidents related to retained foreign objects are “recorded on the National Incident Management System and are reviewed and investigated in line with the HSE Incident Management Framework”.

“CHI is unable to release the information you require specifically in relation to the number of incidents, due to low numbers recorded and patient confidentiality,” they added.

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Mr Tóibín told the Irish Examiner that he did not accept this response, describing it as a “defensive measure”.

He called on CHI to immediately confirm how many children who have gone through surgery have experienced foreign objects being left inside them.

"This is a national scandal. Here is an admission of gross malpractice affecting children,” he said.

"In healthcare, these incidents are categorised as ‘never events', which are significant and preventable patient safety cases that should never occur.

"CHI is now a catalogue of catastrophes, involving the most vulnerable of patients. Unapproved springs in spinal surgeries, hip operations that were unnecessary, and now this.

“We don’t know exactly how many cases there have been, as we were not given those figures, but we do know this happened to a number of children in the last decade."

He said it is notable when dealing with numbers, "we are usually provided with a 'less than' figure to indicate a ballpark, but in this case, we don't even get that".

“The minister needs to work out how many children exactly this happened to."

In response to queries from the Irish Examiner seeking more details on what type of objects might be left behind, why this might happen, and what kind of follow-up is done after such an incident, a spokeswoman for CHI said they had “nothing further to add as the PQ [parliamentary question] response answers it all”.