Social Democrats TD P\u00e1draig Rice has described confirmation that Children\u2019s Health Ireland (CHI) is to be integrated into the HSE by 2027 as an inevitable consequence of the organisation\u2019s litany of failures.<\/p>\n
Deputy Rice, who is the party\u2019s health spokesperson, said:<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is welcome news, but hardly a surprising development given the succession of controversies which have engulfed CHI in recent years.<\/p>\n
\u201cReport after report has shown serious governance issues at CHI and a litany of failings that have compromised the care of young patients. These include ever increasing spinal surgery waiting lists, unnecessary hip surgeries carried out on children, and the use of unauthorised springs in some spinal surgeries.<\/p>\n
\u201cAn internal report also raised grave concerns about a negative staff culture at a CHI hospital, which found it had the potential to put patients at risk. In addition, that review also revealed a number of issues in relation to the use of National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTPF) waiting list initiatives.<\/p>\n
\u201cFurthermore, we are still waiting for the Nayagam review into children\u2019s spinal surgeries at CHI hospitals, which was commissioned in 2023.<\/p>\n
\u201cFamilies and children have paid the price for CHI\u2019s repeated failures. Having an entirely separate entity from the HSE overseeing the new National Children\u2019s Hospital would not be an appropriate structure. Recent events have only strengthened the argument for direct HSE control.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe should be moving away from the complex structures of the past \u2013 not engraining more into the health service.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile today\u2019s news is most welcome, we need further clarity on the transitional arrangements and a timeline for when the Minister for Health intends to bring the necessary legislation before the Oireachtas.\u201d<\/p>\n
September 24, 2025<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Social Democrats TD P\u00e1draig Rice has described confirmation that Children\u2019s Health Ireland (CHI) is to be integrated into the HSE by 2027 as an inevitable consequence of the organisation\u2019s litany of failures. Deputy Rice, who is the party\u2019s health spokesperson, said: \u201cThis is welcome news, but hardly a surprising development given the succession of controversies […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":12553,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[540,723,11,642,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13594","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-children","category-childrens-health-ireland","category-health","category-padraig-rice","category-press-release"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n