The head of Children’s Health Ireland (CHI) is to apologise to patients, their families and the public over “revelations relating to our culture, governance and practices” that have led to “great pain being inflicted upon some of those who were in our care”.
In a statement to the Oireachtas Committee on Health on Thursday, CHI chief executive Lucy Nugent is expected to say: “I am sorry on behalf of the management of Children’s Health Ireland and I am sorry on behalf of the entire organisation.”
She is also to say that CHI will be “ready and able” to take over the new national children’s hospital when it opens.
Ms Nugent and senior CHI figures are scheduled to answer questions at the committee following scandals at the organisation including the implantation of unauthorised springs in children who underwent spinal surgery and indications that some children had unnecessary hip operations.
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There was also an internal report highlighting difficult relationships between staff in one unit and it raised questions over how the National Treatment Purchase Fund was operated.
In her opening statement, Ms Nugent is expected to say: “We want the best possible outcome for our children when they go into hospital and when they leave hospital. When that does not happen, children are failed and trust is broken”.
She is to say CHI’s mission statement includes an aim “to promote and provide child-centred, research-led, learning informed healthcare to the highest standards of safety and excellence”.
“On occasions we have failed to do that,” she is expected to say.
Ms Nugent is also to say that between January and May, a further 254 procedures had been added to the spinal surgery waiting list at CHI.
“This is compared to 193 procedures added for the same period in 2024. While we are doing more spinal surgeries this year (210 so far), we are also seeing more outpatients and adding more procedures to the waiting lists,” she is to say in the statement, which adds that important progress is being made every month.
Ms Nugent is to tell the committee that initiatives taken by the spinal surgery management unit have reduced the waiting time for outpatient appointments by 40 per cent. “We acknowledge that waiting times for patients are still too long, and we continue to work to reduce the length of time that patients are waiting for appointments.”
She is also to say that the recent audit of developmental dysplasia of the hip surgeries, which involved 147 random and anonymous cases, found that thresholds for recommending pelvic osteotomy procedures varied between CHI at Crumlin, CHI at Temple Street and the National Orthopaedic Hospital in Cappagh.
“All families have been sent a letter which details if their child was part of the audit and what their next steps will be,” Ms Nugent is to say in her statement.
“Multi-disciplinary team review clinics have started. This is a once-off review to assess complications only and determine the current clinical state of each patient. After this, patients enter the recommended normal follow-up process. To date 105 appointments have been offered, with 60 patients seen.
“We are arranging these clinics as quickly as possible and hope to have seen all children within six months.”
Ms Nugent is also to say that integrating services, functions and teams across three centres to become a single organisation had “not always been easy”.
“But it is being done and continues to be done. We will continue to ensure and progress CHI’s readiness as an organisation to move into the new hospital.”
