There has been an erosion of trust between the Department of Health and Children\u2019s Health Ireland and the families affected by the spinal care scandal, who have been neglected throughout the review process, according to Social Democrats health spokesperson P\u00e1draig Rice.<\/p>\n
Deputy Rice, who is Chair of the Oireachtas health committee, said:<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re told that it will be the end of this year before the Nayagam review is finally published \u2013 three years after it was commissioned.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis review into paediatric orthopaedic procedures in Temple Street was commissioned by the HSE in 2023 – families first started receiving letters to say that their child\u2019s case would be included in the review in October 2023, but they are still waiting for answers.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe learned today that 91 patients were reviewed in phase one, which looked at the caseload of an individual practitioner – this phase was due to be completed by April 2023, but the completed report was presented to the HSE in September and has been sitting on the Minister for Health\u2019s desk since last week.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe completion of phase one was reported in a Sunday paper \u2013 that is not how parents should have found out about its progress.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe also learned that phase one will not be published, and a final report will only be released to the public once phase two has been completed, which looks at the environment which practitioners were working in.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis decision raises serious questions; families should be the priority, and they need full transparency from the HSE, CHI and the Minister for Health.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Minister said that for legal reasons, phase one cannot be published – how was this not foreseen? The Minister wasn\u2019t shy about calling for CHI to publish its internal review last year when the organisation was hiding behind legal advice.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is welcome that parents have finally been contacted today, and that follow up appointments will be arranged for those who require them, but parents should have been alerted sooner. This whole process has been completely flawed.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe also heard today that the audit into waiting list management at CHI is still not complete, even though it was due in December 2025 – according to the Minister, this missed deadline is due to CHI\u2019s delay in providing the HSE with access to information.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat happened to CHI\u2019s commitment to transparency? This information should have been provided straight away and without hesitation.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn terms of the statutory inquiry, we need immediate progress on appointing an independent mediator for families – trust with parents must be restored, because it has been diminished further today.\u201d<\/p>\n
February 11th, 2026<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" There has been an erosion of trust between the Department of Health and Children\u2019s Health Ireland and the families affected by the spinal care scandal, who have been neglected throughout the review process, according to Social Democrats health spokesperson P\u00e1draig Rice. Deputy Rice, who is Chair of the Oireachtas health committee, said: \u201cWe\u2019re told that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":11725,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[540,723,642,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15483","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-children","category-childrens-health-ireland","category-padraig-rice","category-press-release"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n