More than 100 children waiting for heart surgery
Funding difficulties at Our Lady's Hospital blamed as HSE calls for answers on delays
MORE than 100 children are waiting for open-heart surgery at Our Lady's Hospital for Sick Children in Crumlin, and 25 require urgent surgery.
The shocking list is contained in documents that reveal a protracted struggle between the cash-strapped children's hospital and the Health Service Executive over funding. In a letter to the children's hospital last month, the HSE's hospitals manager John Bulfin wrote that it had come to his attention that "there are over 100 children on the waiting list for open-heart surgery, of which 25 are considered to require surgery urgently. Perhaps you might come back to me with your proposal to address this very urgent situation."
The letter continued: "You might also let me know if there are any other specialities where children are awaiting urgent care, and if so, your plans to deal with that."
It also called on the children's hospital to re-open a theatre it closed in May to save money on agency staff
The letter reflects the growing concerns over the effects of budgetary cutbacks on care for sick children at Our Lady's. The HSE and the hospital management have been at loggerheads in recent months over how the hospital is managing a budget deficit of €9m.
Conditions at the children's hospital have been widely criticised in recent months, with hospital management, consultants and parents broadly blaming acute funding shortages for the difficulties.
Parents of sick children have launched a campaign against cuts at the hospital which they say have led to cancelling of appointments, procedures postponed and growing waiting lists for serious illnesses.
More than 150 children and teenagers are awaiting surgery for scoliosis, curvature of the spine. It emerged last week that children in chronic arthritic pain are waiting for up to 13 months for an appointment with the State's only paediatric rheumatologist, who is based in Our Lady's Hospital.
The children's hospital has been struggling to implement a savings plan to break even by the year's end. In May, the hospital closed 25 beds and one operating theatre, reduced outpatient appointments and laid off temporary and agency staff. But documents released under the Freedom of Information Act show how the children's hospital was urged to make savings in other areas by the HSE.
Minutes of meetings between the hospital and the HSE in January noted the hospital was urged to look at increasing the number of day cases and cutback from seven-day to five-day wards. The minutes noted that the "savings are less than originally forecast". The hospital also lobbied to retain its 'meals on wheels' service to the local community and that it was "difficult to withdraw this because of local pressure".
At another meeting in April, the hospital told the HSE of plans to close a ward and a theatre to save the cost of employing agency staff. The closure would mean redeploying staff to front-line services, according to the minutes.
Our Lady's Hospital and two other Dublin paediatric hospitals are to merge into the new €750m Children's Hospital of Ireland, plans for which were unveiled by Minister for Health, Mary Harney last week. The new hospital will open on a site beside the Mater hospital in Dublin by the end of 2014, three years later than originally planned.
A spokeswoman for Our Lady's Hospital said the increased cardiac waiting list was due to more children being born with heart defects.
A critical factor in the wait list was the lack of intensive care beds which children need after surgery. The HSE has promised to provide four more intensive care beds. "The hospital and the HSE are currently examining options to address the current cardiac waiting list service need in advance of the new ICU project being completed," she said.
- MAEVE SHEEHAN
Originally published in
