Tánaiste Simon Harris will meet the family of Harvey Morrison Sherratt (9) who died in recent weeks following years of suffering due to spina bifida and scoliosis.
.
He had been subject to delays in accessing urgent scoliosis surgery, during which time he experienced significant pain and a reduced quality of life. He underwent surgery at the end of last year.
He died on July 29th, although no cause of death has been established, his mother said in a post on X last week.
RM Block
Harvey’s parents Gillian Sherratt and Stephen Morrison, from Clondalkin in Dublin, have been leading a social-media campaign calling for the resignation of Mr Harris following their son’s death.
In 2017, when he was minister for health, Mr Harris pledged that no child would wait more than four months for scoliosis surgery by the end of that year. In a post on X, Ms Sherratt called on the Tánaiste to think “as a parent of young children”.
“While you create memories with your children, I think about how memories are all we have left, and any future memories made will always have a void. While you kiss them goodbye for the day, I think about when I kissed Harvey goodbye for the last time,” her post said.
Mr Morrison said his son was “unique”, but said “what isn’t unique is the way he and other children and people with disabilities are being failed. It is up to us to stop it.”
They have called for a statutory inquiry into the handling of scoliosis in Ireland.
It emerged last year that Harvey had been removed from Children’s Health Ireland’s (CHI) urgent scoliosis surgery waiting list, without his family being informed. CHI was contacted for comment.
It previously said it could not comment on individual cases but that waiting lists are “constantly changing, as children and young people have their surgeries and come off the list, new patients are added”.
“Important progress is being made every month,” it said.
A spokesman for Mr Harris said the Tánaiste had spoken to Ms Sherratt, Harvey’s mother, on Wednesday and they “have agreed to meet in the near future”.
“The Tánaiste has also sought, through the Minister for Health, a full multidisciplinary report on the timeline of care provided to Harvey.”
During a visit to Clonmel, Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe said Mr Harris “did all he could” when he became aware of the needs of the family “in terms of engaging with the Department of Health and HSE”.
“I am very conscious that we have a family who have lost a loved one, and are grieving at the moment. They have had such a difficult experience and we have to respect that, and to allow them to make the points that they believe are important,” he said.
“There are still families who need more support, there is still more progress that we need to make.”
Sinn Féin health spokesman David Cullinane said the “tragic and avoidable passing of Harvey Morrison Sherratt must bring an end to the neglect of children with significant medical needs”.
“Despite the commitment made in 2017 by Simon Harris that no child would wait longer than four months for scoliosis surgery by the end of that year, as of July there are still 38 children waiting longer than six months just for an appointment date.”
Speaking to RTÉ on Wednesday, Aontú leader Peadar Tóibín called for Mr Harris to resign over his handling of the case.
