There must be full accountability and transparency from Children’s Health Ireland (CHI) in relation to a succession of scandals, according to Social Democrats TD Pádraig Rice.
Deputy Rice, who is the party’s spokesperson on health, said:
“A report in yesterday’s Sunday Times that a consultant breached guidelines by referring public patients to his own private weekend clinics – and that this individual was reportedly paid thousands of euro via the National Treatment Purchase Fund – is just the latest in a long line of controversies to beset CHI.
“It is particularly concerning that the HSE and the Department of Health were kept in the dark about the CHI investigation into the consultant, with chief executive Bernard Gloster only hearing about it for the first time this weekend.
“As a matter of urgency, the report into this latest scandal must be published. As it stands, it is unclear what years the CHI report covers or if any action was taken against the surgeon in question. Was the matter referred to the Medical Council or the gardaí, for example?
“This controversy follows the publication of an audit into hundreds of unnecessary surgeries on children at CHI and Cappagh and comes just weeks after a damning Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) report into the use of unauthorised springs implanted during children’s spinal surgeries.
“The lack of clinical oversight and governance at CHI is hugely concerning and deeply problematic. What level of oversight, if any, was operating at this group and how could such a huge variation in clinical practice have continued for so long?
“In my capacity as chair of the Oireachtas Health Committee, I have written to the board of CHI and expect them to attend the committee at the earliest available opportunity to answer questions on these myriad of scandals.
“Since its inception in 2019, CHI has been dogged by serious failings in governance, oversight and communications. This does not bode well for the organisation’s ability to oversee the mammoth task of integrating paediatric services at Temple Street, Crumlin and Tallaght into the new National Children’s Hospital.
“Given CHI’s centrality to the future operation, and success, of this landmark project, we must conclusively establish if it is fit for purpose. In order to make a determination on that, we need comprehensive answers to the many questions that have now arisen as a result of these scandals.”
May 26, 2025