Health Minister Jennifer Carroll MacNeill has announced a plan to integrate CHI – which oversees the three children’s hospitals – but it will take a number of years.
“As we move towards the opening of the National Children’s Hospital Ireland, we need to plan for integrated paediatric healthcare and the policy direction for Children’s Health Ireland.
“The National Children’s Hospital Ireland will be the central hub in the network of paediatric care with links to regional paediatric units, operated overwhelmingly by the HSE. Accordingly, I have decided to integrate CHI into the HSE structure.
“The background of CHI was the integration of three very different paediatric hospitals with a view to moving to a single dedicated specialist paediatric hospital.
“We are very close to that hospital being delivered and operational and it is therefore time to further integrate paediatric care formally into the HSE.”
Today’s News in 90 Seconds – September 24th
CHI has been at the centre of controversies in recent years over the care of children undergoing spinal surgeries, waiting lists for scoliosis patients and misuse of funding from the National Treatment Purchase Fund.
The minister has also appointed Dr Yvonne Traynor as chairperson of the CHI board.
She has added Fergus Finlay and Suzanne Garvey to the board.
Responding to today’s announcement, co-lead of children’s advocacy groups Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus Paediatric Advocacy, Amanda Coughlan, said today that “in April, after the damning Hiqa report into children’s spinal surgeries the Taoiseach Micheál Martin stood on the floor of the Dail and said he backed the CHI board.
“Just five months on, the whole organisation is being subsumed into the HSE a complete U-turn by the Government.
“What has been discovered that led to this decision? There needs to be transparency.
“When we met with the Minister for Health in May and outlined the absolute failures of care in scoliosis and spina bifida children care, we had asked for this to occur and were told it was not an option being explored, “ she added calling for full transparency around the decision.
In response to parents’ call for answers, a spokesman for the Department of Health said: “The Minister for Health met with families and advocacy groups over the last number of months; their feedback is helping to design services that better meet children’s needs.
“The decision today is as a result of her reflection on the governance structures that make up our health care services, conscious of both the size of our country and the ever-evolving need for health care to be integrated across acute and community settings.
“This is a steady process that began with the appointment of some HSE Board members, is confirmed today and will transition both operationally and legislatively with implementation in 2027.”
Meanwhile, Tánaiste Simon Harris said the decision to bring CHI under the HSE was an “important step”.
“It’s something that I’ve been talking to the Minister about as has the Taoiseach, for quite a period of time. CHI was established to do an important job in terms of bringing together three hospitals, and that job has happened. It’s now about to go on to that next phase,” Mr Harris said.
“I think the steps being taken by the Minister today are prudent and they’re sensible, increasing the governance of CHI. There are very serious questions about aspects of CHI, there’s a number of inquiries already underway, a number of reviews and the likes, and I would be expecting there’ll be more in that space,” he added.
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