The Government faced strong criticism over delays in treatment for children with scoliosis during the first Leaders’ Questions session of the new Dáil term. The area of waiting lists for disability services was also a strong point of Government criticism.
Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald and Social Democrats leader Holly Cairns both raised the case of Harvey Morrison Sherratt, who died on July 29th following a sudden deterioration in his health. The nine-year-old had waited several years for spinal surgery.
Ms McDonald told the Dáil Harvey’s parents, Stephen and Gillian, are “heartbroken, shattered by the loss of their beautiful little boy”.
Offering her condolences, Ms McDonald said Harvey had suffered from scoliosis and spina bifida, adding that “he waited years for spinal surgery as his condition worsened”.
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She said Harvey was born in 2017, the same year then-minister for health Simon Harris “promised that no child would wait more than four months for spinal surgery”.
“That promise has been broken again and again and again,” the Sinn Féin leader said. “Harvey did eventually get his surgery last December, but he had waited far, far too long”.
Addressing the Coalition, Ms McDonald said Harvey was “failed by Government” and that his story “is not an isolated case”.
She said there are 135 children on waiting lists without a date for surgery and 40 of them have been waiting six months or more.
Ms McDonald asked the Taoiseach, Micheál Martin, to tell families what he “will do now to ensure that they get the operations that they require urgently”.
Mr Martin offered his deepest condolences to Harvey’s parents, saying “it is an extraordinarily traumatic thing to happen any family, but in these circumstances, even more traumatic in terms of the experiences that the family and Harvey had with the hospitals”, which he described as “unacceptable”.
He said Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill has met Children’s Health Ireland (CHI) – the organisation that runs Ireland’s children’s hospitals – and has asked for a report on the timeline of Harvey’s care.
Mr Martin said the Health Service Executive (HSE) has received a draft report and shared it with Harvey’s parents. He said his understanding is Ms Carroll MacNeill and Mr Harris are due to meet Harvey’s parents “in the near future”.
The Taoiseach added: “I understand fully the anger and the absolute frustration felt by the parents and by other families who do not receive surgical intervention at the right time for their child.”
He said the HSE is giving stronger supports to CHI aimed at “creating additional capacity . . . in respect of services”. He said this would particularly apply to spinal services at CHI.
Later, Ms Cairns told Mr Martin nearly 16,000 children are now overdue an assessment of need and essential therapies. The Social Democrats leader said “supports are still almost non-existent and hundreds of children are still left in agony waiting for spinal surgeries”.
Ms Cairns told Mr Martin “the only things the disabled people are guaranteed by your Government are broken promises and a waiting list”.
Mr Martin insisted disability is “a top priority of this Government”.
He added: “I accept fully that there are shortcomings in respect to some areas, particularly in spinal surgery, particularly in the area of assessment of need and in terms of the availability of therapies.”
He pointed out that there had been “unrelenting investment” in education for children with additional needs and “exponential growth in services”.
Earlier, Ceann Comhairle Verona Murphy opened proceedings by highlighting an “alarming rise in the serious threats and online abuse” directed at a significant number of Oireachtas members.
She said it often emanates from “unverified profiles on various online platforms”.
Ms Murphy requested a meeting with “all party and group leaders with a view to formulating an appropriate consensus response to deal with this issue”.
