Mayo case a further indictment of an ailing health system that has lost public's confidence
Irrespective of where one looks, there are service delivery problems within the Irish healthcare system and, behind every problem, there is a story of a patient left waiting for the treatment they so urgently require.
In that context, it was sad to learn of the case of 13-year-old Tourmakeady girl Leah Heenan who was diagnosed with scoliosis at the age of 10 and is still awaiting spinal fusion surgery.
This in spite of the fact that the Department of Health made a commitment in 2017 that children with scoliosis would not have to wait longer than four months for the necessary surgery to transform their lives.
Highlighting the case in Dáil Éireann, Mayo TD Alan Dillon said he had met with several parents of children in the county who are still awaiting surgery well beyond the promised four months.
He made specific reference to the plight of Leah whose parents had hoped her surgery would have been carried out before transitioning from primary to secondary school next September.
Indeed, they have been calling a Dublin-based hospital on a daily basis in their desperation for medical action.
It appears, as Deputy Dillon pointed out, that a paediatric consultant and orthopaedic surgeon at the unnamed hospital in question have assured the Heenan family that surgery will take place once a bed becomes available.
Unfortunately, no bed has been found for her to date and her surgeon has now advised that he is too busy, requiring her to be referred to another specialist.
This means the family must ensure the lengthy process of pre-operative checks once again, a process which is physically draining and time-consuming when the number of return journeys between Tourmakeady and the capital are taken into consideration.
The situation is, yet again, a very poor reflection on the HSE and its failure to deliver on commitments to members of the public in urgent need.
It is also a sad reflection on our senior elected representatives whose ability to call the agency to account is clearly not being utilised to its maximum effect in cases like Leah’s.
A number of weeks ago a report by the Ombudsman for Children cited the case of a 17-year-old girl, Ivy, who has been left waiting five years for spinal fusion surgery.
The report recommended that Children’s Health Ireland (CHI) conduct an audit of waiting lists for children with scoliosis care and implement reforms to ensure earlier intervention.
But the question remains why the Department of Health has neglected to ensure that its commitment, given six years ago, to ensure children with scoliosis would not have to wait longer than four months for surgery has proven to be a hopelessly false promise, failing to meet its target by years rather than months.
How can the public have faith in such a ludicrous system?