'Serious incidents' lead to external review of orthopaedic surgery at Temple Street hospital

Michael Bolton

A UK expert will lead an external review of elements of the paediatric orthopaedic surgical service at Children’s Health Ireland (CHI) at Temple Street following a number of serious spinal surgical incidents.

The review will be conducted by Selvadurai Nayagam, Consultant in Orthopaedics and Trauma, and Head of the Limb Reconstruction Unit at the Royal Liverpool University and Royal Liverpool Children’s Hospitals.

In a statement released on Monday, the HSE said: "The primary focus of this external review will be the clinical care provided by an individual Consultant based at CHI at Temple Street, who is currently not conducting surgeries, and in respect of whom a referral has been made to the Irish Medical Council.

"The primary focus of this external review will be the clinical care provided by an individual Consultant based at CHI at Temple Street, who is currently not conducting surgeries, and in respect of whom a referral has been made to the Irish Medical Council."

Senior management in CHI were made aware of patient safety concerns in 2022 in relation to the treatment of some patients with Spina Bifida who had spinal surgery at CHI at Temple Street.

Two reviews by CHI examined the care of 17 children who had complex spinal surgery in CHI at Temple Street. Of these 17 children, one child sadly died since, and a number of other children suffered significant post-operative complications.

CHI has recently met two further families who were affected by this issue, bringing to 19 the total number of families who CHI have met in recent weeks.

The chief clinical officer of the HSE, Dr Colm Henry, said: "This review will examine the reports already completed and complete a risk assessment of the relevant areas of orthopaedic surgery in CHI at Temple Street as soon as practicable and before the end of 2023. This will determine the specific timelines and milestones for the review process.

"The review may also make findings and recommendations that apply across all CHI hospitals and to the new children’s hospital and will be published".