Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill is actively considering subsuming Children’s Health Ireland (CHI) into the Health Service Executive (HSE) following recent controversies at the operator of paediatric healthcare in the State, The Irish Times understands.
CHI was established in 2019 to govern and operate paediatric services in Ireland, and currently operates Temple Street, Crumlin and Tallaght hospitals. Upon completion, it will operate the new National Children’s Hospital.
However, there have been a number of issues in the hospital in recent years, including the implantation of unapproved springs into children with scoliosis; the threshold for hip surgeries; and surgical outcomes for children in the orthopaedic service.
Sources have said there is a “lack of confidence” in the body in light of these issues, with senior Government and healthcare figures expressing concern about the organisation’s ability to run the new children’s hospital in its current format.
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Four members of the board have resigned over the past week – Mary Cryan, Dr Gavin Lavery, Brigid McManus and Catherine Guy. This follows the resignation of board chairman Jim Browne last month.
Ms Carroll MacNeill said she has moved to strengthen the governance and oversight at CHI and will appoint two members of the HSE board to that of CHI.
In relation to the vacancies created by the recent resignations, the Minister told RTÉ she “will be looking to make similar appointments over the next number of days”.
“Further measures are also under consideration,” the minister said in a statement. Several sources have confirmed the measures include subsuming CHI into the HSE.
The takeover would be supported by the HSE, with Bernard Gloster, chief executive of the body, at the weekend stating this option “has to be” one of the moves considered.
This is not the first time the takeover has been considered by Government.
Last December, The Irish Times reported that then Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly sought legal advice on the powers available if the State considered it had to take over the operation of children’s services.
It is understood the legal advice was that such a direct intervention could only take place if an independent review identified serious governance or other failings.
Since then, the Health Information and Quality Authority published an independent report on the implantation of non-surgical springs into three children with scoliosis in Temple Street hospital.
The report found the use of these springs were “wrong” and the systems in place in CHI meant “children were not protected from the risk of harm”.
An independent audit published last Friday found that almost 500 children who underwent hip operations in two hospitals should be recalled, as close to 70 per cent of the sample of operations examined in these healthcare facilities were not necessary.
The audit examined only 147 cases over three years – 2021 to 2023 – and a wider inquiry into the issue will be commenced.
Another report, by UK expert Selvadurai Nayagam, is also being conducted into paediatric orthopaedic surgery service at CHI Temple St, CHI Crumlin, the National Orthopaedic Hospital, Cappagh, and other relevant sites in Dublin. This report has not yet been completed.
Following the publication of the audit, CHI chief executive Lucy Nugent said the organisation is “currently standardising care across all CHI sites, so all children receive the same high-quality treatment no matter where they are seen”.
Mr Gloster said the audit findings “raise significant concern”, adding that the HSE will “now oversee the implementation of the recommendations and the comprehensive response by way of follow up with the children that the recommendations outlined in this report are implemented in full”.
Separately, the Minister has also written to the CHI Board seeking an action plan in relation to an internal unpublished report concerning a consultant who allegedly referred public patients to his private clinics.
