Children are losing ability to walk because of wait for orthopaedic intervention says Leitrim councillor

Some children are losing the ability to walk because of lengthy waiting lists for orthopaedic intervention for children with Spina Bifida and/or Hydracephalus according to Cllr Mary Bohan.

Addressing the January Council meeting, Cllr Bohan said that parents of children requiring intervention were “seriously concerned” about the length of waiting lists.

She brought forward a motion calling on the Minister for Health, Stephen Donnelly TD, to put measures in place to deal with children who are on long waiting lists and are suffering from Spina Bifida and/or Hydracephalus.

“These children are in urgent need of Orthopaedic intervention,” she said adding this is a “matter of urgency”.

“This is a very serious issue,” she stressed. “Some of these children are losing the ability to walk because of the lack of intervention.”

The Fianna Fáil councillor said this was especially concerning as Ireland has “one of the highest rates of Spina Bifida in the world”.

She added that while a lot of blame was being leveled on delays caused by the pandemic or the hacking of the HSE, Cllr Bohan pointed out that in 2014 a report found that only 46% of children requiring this intervention had access to Temple Street services and “not all of these children with access were seen annually”.

She acknowledged there has been “some improvement” since 2014 but said that this is “not adequate”.

She stressed that early intervention is needed to give children the best outcomes in terms of developing and retaining the ability to walk.

Noting the money she says has been “wasted” on the provision of a new children's hospital and with a €100 non-means tested rebate now being proposed on household electricity bills, “this money could be better spent in trying to ensure we alleviate the waiting list for orthopaedic services for children”.

Cllr Brendan Barry backed her call for investment in these services noting “a lot of children with Spina Bifida and/or Hydracephalus can be operated on but if this is delayed then children can get to a point where they are no longer able to operate and those children have lost the chance to walk”.

Cllr Des Guckian and Cllr Paddy O'Rourke also backed the call for greater investment in these services.