Latest news with #DavidCullinane
Irish Times
23-05-2025
- Health
- Irish Times
‘A national scandal': Answers demanded after audit highlights over 100 unnecessary hip surgeries on children
Opposition politicians have called for answers on behalf of families after an audit found almost 70 per cent of hip surgeries carried out in two children's hospitals over a three-year period were unnecessary. On Friday, the Health Service Executive (HSE) published the independent audit on hip surgery thresholds for children with developmental dysplasia of the hip (DDH). The audit examined 147 cases across three hospitals – Temple Street, the National Orthopaedic Hospital Cappagh (NOHC) and Crumlin Hospital. A total of 85 surgeries performed at Temple Street Hospital (TSH) were examined in the audit, of which 51 did not meet the clinical criteria for surgery - meaning 60 per cent were unnecessary. READ MORE In NOHC, 70 surgeries were audited and 55 did not meet the criteria, meaning 79 per cent were unnecessary. Only one of the 63 surgeries examined at Crumlin hospital did not meet the clinical criteria. David Cullinane, Sinn Féin's health spokesperson, said families are 'very anxious' about the report's findings. He said: 'Every parent whose child had a hip surgery at these hospitals will want an answer: was their child's surgery unnecessary? The report does not answer that. It recommends that every case is offered a review. 'The Government is talking about a panel of experts to review cases but are not dealing with this urgently. The process is only being put in place now. The Government has known about this scandal since last May.' Mr Cullinane spoke about the need for further inquiries. He added: 'Why were these surgeons operating at lower standards? Why were there such a high number of double hip surgeries? There seem to be particular surgeons that were problematic. Their practice and the oversight of their practice needs to be scrutinised much further.' Marie Sherlock, health spokesperson for the Labour Party, said the audit paints a 'distressing picture around the lack of clinical governance'. 'There are very serious concerns around informed consent,' she said. 'There are a lot more questions here. At the heart of this are children and their families.' Pádraig Rice, health spokesperson for the Social Democrats and chair of the Oireachtas health committee, said the report identifies 'serious failings around the use of a novel procedure, both in terms of the absence of informed consent and the lack of clinical follow-up to assess the impact of this treatment'. 'Many questions also remain unanswered because of the limited scope of this audit,' he said. 'It only looked at the threshold for surgery, not the reasons for surgery. And while we now have confirmation of what occurred between 2021 and 2023, we still do not know why or how this was allowed to happen. [ Government 'all talk but no action' on disability assessment backlog, says activist Opens in new window ] [ 'I can't wait any longer': Couples with one child await budget pledge on free IVF Opens in new window ] 'Were it not for a whistleblower, these practices could still be happening in our children's hospitals.' People Before Profit TD Paul Murphy described the findings as a 'national scandal'. 'It is not good enough now for the HSE to put the onus on parents to contact a helpline and request a review of their child's case,' he said. 'All hip surgeries carried out in Temple Street and Cappagh hospitals must be examined and parents must be informed whether or not their child's surgery was unnecessary.'
Irish Times
18-05-2025
- Health
- Irish Times
Oireachtas health committee must hear from HSE on Portiuncula maternity services, says Opposition
The Oireachtas health committee will need to examine and hear from Health Service Executive officials about maternity services at Portiuncula University Hospital in Co Galway , Opposition TDs have said. The Irish Times revealed last week that a further external review into maternity care at the Ballinasloe hospital has begun following the death of a baby in recent weeks. It is the 10th review to take place into the care given to women and babies at the hospital. The new Oireachtas health committee will meet for the first time on Wednesday. Sinn Féin 's health spokesperson David Cullinane said it is 'important that all of the reviews are completed and that maternity services are safe at Portiuncula'. READ MORE 'This is an important issue of patient safety, and the Oireachtas health committee will need to examine it.' Labour 's health spokesperson Marie Sherlock said the committee 'needs to hear from the HSE as to the status of those reviews'. 'Questions need to be asked now about what exactly is going on here,' she said. 'The delay in the reporting of the reviews and the addition of yet another review could certainly prompt a crisis of confidence in services at Portiuncula, which we don't want to see happen,' she said. [ Death of baby at Portiuncula Hospital leads to new review Opens in new window ] Ms Sherlock said she was 'really taken aback' when she heard 'yet another review' had to be initiated. 'Ultimately, confidence in our maternity services right across the country depends on people being updated as to what's happening when there have been successive issues in one particular maternity unit.' Nine external reviews were announced in January, after six babies delivered in 2024 and one in 2025 had hypoxic-ischaemic encephalopathy (HIE) – a reduction in the supply of blood or oxygen to a baby's brain before, during or after birth. Six of these babies were referred for neonatal therapeutic hypothermia known as neonatal cooling. Two stillbirths occurred at the hospital in 2023, the circumstances of which are also being reviewed externally. An external management team remains in place at the hospital to oversee all elements of maternity and neonatal care. Stephen McMahon, chairman of the Irish Patients Association , a patient advocacy group, said that, with 10 reviews ongoing at the hospital, the matter needs to be 'independently investigated up to and beyond the board of the HSE'. Mr McMahon said the association would like to know if there have been any formal interim reports or updates on the process. A spokesperson for Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill said she is 'very aware of the very sad death of a baby who was recently born at Portiuncula University Hospital and that an external review has commenced'. 'She extends her deepest condolences to the family at this devastating time,' the spokesperson said. The Minister understands a number of other external reviews ongoing at the hospital are expected to be completed 'soon', the spokesperson said, adding that these reports will be shared with the families and other stakeholders, including the Minister, once complete.
Irish Times
17-05-2025
- Health
- Irish Times
Children's hospital ‘never-ending saga', says Opposition after completion delayed until September
The new national children's hospital (NCH) is a 'never-ending saga', with deadlines becoming 'moving targets', Opposition politicians have said after it emerged the completion of the project has been delayed again until at least September. On Saturday, The Irish Times reported the substantial completion of the healthcare facility has been delayed again until at least September, with patients now not expected to be treated at the facility until June 2026 at the earliest. In September last, the contractor pledged the new substantial completion date for the hospital would be June 2025 – the 14th such date issued by the builder. However, it has now emerged this date will not be met. The national paediatric hospital development board (NPHDB), the body overseeing the project, is due to appear before politicians to update them on the hospital on Thursday. READ MORE Sinn Féin's health spokesman David Cullinane described the children's hospital as a 'never-ending saga' that is 'making a mockery' out of the taxpayer. 'What we have is the board saying the contractor is not deploying enough human resources; the company is pointing the finger at the board. All of this has to come to a stop eventually,' said Mr Cullinane. 'We need to know why there's been a further delay. We were told the most recent completion date [June] would be met, and now we hear it won't. I think the opening [to patients] of summer next year is widely optimistic. It's been delayed, delayed, delayed.' Mr Cullinane said it was an 'absolute shambles' to have 'completion date after completion date come and go'. 'Children who should have been treated in the hospital by 2022, now won't be seen until the middle of 2026,' he added. Labour health spokeswoman Marie Sherlock said the delay is 'extremely frustrating' but 'not entirely unexpected'. 'The question we would have now is around cost and what impact this will have on activity for the three hospitals. Ultimately, it is very frustrating and even with the handover in September, that is still a very tight turnaround for the commissioning period,' she added. Social Democrats health spokesman Pádraig Rice said the hospital has to be 'one of the most botched capital projects in the history of the State'. 'Where is the political leadership? How many more delays before there is political accountability? How can we have any confidence that children will be treated in the hospital by June 2026?' he asked. 'Deadlines have become little more than moving targets,' he added before calling on Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill to update the Dáil next week on the latest delay. Building on the site at St James's Hospital in Dublin began in 2016 after years of disagreement over the location of the hospital. The following eight years were marked by ballooning cost – from €987 million to €2.2 billion, with repeated delays exacerbated by an increasingly fractious relationship between the builders, BAM , and the NPHDB. Asked about further delays, a spokeswoman for the NPHDB said work towards substantial completion is 'continuing and approaching the final stages'. 'A key focus currently relates to the completion of all rooms and spaces within the hospital to the standard required by the contract, ie, snag free,' she said. 'This process is advancing. In addition, the technical commissioning is being undertaken and will continue until substantial completion.' A BAM spokesman said: 'The NCH project is at a very advanced stage and is well through the technical commissioning process. BAM is working closely with the NPHDB and CHI [Children's Health Ireland] to ensure early access for CHI.'
Irish Independent
16-05-2025
- Politics
- Irish Independent
Sinn Féin banned from Dublin trans and intersex pride march, organisers say
Despite a 'period of engagement' with party leadership, including a meeting with Mary Lou McDonald and other LGBTQ+ organisations, organisers have said they are 'not satisfied' with the party's position. They added that Sinn Féin has now 'officially' been banned from the march, which will take place in Dublin on July 12. Trans and Intersex Pride Dublin had released a statement last month calling on Sinn Féin to clarify the party position on the UK Supreme Court ruling and bans on puberty blockers. Last month, the British Supreme Court issued a landmark judgement which clarified that the terms 'woman' and 'sex' in the UK Equality Act refer to a biological woman and biological sex. In a post shared to X, Sinn Féin health spokesperson, David Cullinane, had said the ruling was a 'common sense judgement'. He subsequently apologised and deleted the post, and has since met with a number of community groups on the issue. His comments drew criticism from a number of LGBTQ+ groups and activists who called on the wider party to clarify their stance, with Trans and Intersex Pride Dublin organisers today saying Sinn Féin has had 'numerous opportunities to explain their position'. They cited Ms McDonald's appearance on RTÉ's Late Late Show, as well as an email being sent to her office regarding their position and 'a community engagement meeting with Mary Lou McDonald, David Cullinane, and other LGBTQ+ organisations across the island'. A one-on-one discussion meeting with Trans and Intersex Pride Dublin Organiser Jenny Maguire was also held, they said. The group sought clarity on the party position on the UK Supreme Court ruling, whether they continue to support the NI Executive decision to 'ban puberty blockers; and whether they would support a ban on puberty blockers in the south of Ireland'. However, organisers said they were 'not satisfied with the clarity received' and have since 'made the decision to officially ban Sinn Féin from Trans and Intersex Pride Dublin 2025'. "We have always banned government parties from joining our March, and we continue to say that Fine Gael, and Fianna Fàil are not welcome, but a real alternative to Fianna Fàil and Fine Gael has to firmly stand in solidarity with the trans community.'
The Journal
16-05-2025
- Politics
- The Journal
Sinn Féin banned from trans pride march following last-minute meeting with Mary Lou McDonald
SINN FÉIN HAS been banned from taking part in a pride march in Dublin this July over its stance on rights for transgender people, after months of questioning of the party's position on the issue. It follows extensive efforts by Sinn Féin leadership in meetings with with LGBT+ groups, with party president Mary Lou McDonald meeting with activists yesterday. Those meetings came on foot of an initial last month by Trans and Intersex Pride Dublin for Sinn Féin to clarify the party's position on the UK Supreme Court and the ban on puberty blockers in Northern Ireland. The controversy had been sparked by Sinn Féin's health spokesperson David Cullinane describing a ruling by the Scottish Supreme Court – that the terms 'woman' and 'sex' in UK equality legislation do not include transgender women – as a 'common sense judgment'. Trans groups have been strongly critical of the Scottish Supreme Court's findings, with some pointing to a recent motion by a British doctors union calling the ruling 'scientifically illiterate'. In a statement this morning, Trans and Intersex Pride Dublin said Sinn Féin had 'numerous opportunities to explain their position' in recent weeks. The group cited one-on-one discussions with McDonald as well as a community engagement meeting with the Sinn Féin leader, her Dáil health spokesperson David Cullinane and other LGBT+ organisations across the island. Explaining this decision, the group said that it was 'not satisfied with the clarity received' around the party's position on a number of issues affecting trans people. Advertisement The group said it had engaged with the party 'in order to seek clarity' on their positions on the Scottish Supreme Court ruling in the UK and 'whether it would oppose attempts to implement the ruling in Northern Ireland'. It also sought a response on whether Sinn Féin would continue to support the decision of the Northern Irish government – where the party' vice president Michelle O'Neill is First Minister – to ban puberty blockers, and whether the party would support a ban on puberty blockers in the Republic. The group added that it holds the view that a 'real alternative to Fianna Fàil and Fine Gael' must be able to 'firmly stand in solidarity' with the trans community. 'Trans and Intersex Pride Dublin have since made the decision to officially ban Sinn Féin from Trans and Intersex Pride Dublin 2025. We have always banned government parties from joining our March, and we continue to say that Fine Gael, and Fianna Fàil are not welcome, but a real alternative to Fianna Fàil and Fine Gael has to firmly stand in solidarity with the trans community.' Trans and Intersex Pride Dublin also mentioned a 'Late Late Show interview with Mary Lou McDonald' in which the Dublin Central TD spoke about trans rights in light of her health frontbencher Cullinane's remarks. While McDonald told host Patrick Kielty that the issue was a very personal one for her given she has a trans sibling, it also caused concern for some party members and LGBT+ groups. That interview saw McDonald put forward that conversations about the rights of trans people must start from a 'position of respect'. She cautioned that Sinn Féin's position had not changed but said the implications of the UK Supreme Court ruling would need to be studied, particularly for Northern Ireland. It's understood part of what has concerned LGBT+ groups and some members of Sinn Féin is a belief that the party is maintaining a purposefully 'grey' position on the issue, without offering clear public support. Earlier this week , The Journal reported that Sinn Féin has seen a number of long-time members leave the party over a belief that the party is set to water down its support for LGBT+ issues, in particular on trans rights. Concern was heightened by plans for the party to hold a conference this summer specifically to discuss its stance on trans rights. While there has been confusion over when exactly this is due to take place – with some senior sources indicating it would be pushed back to take place next year – it's thought Sinn Féin now intends to hold it in the coming weeks. Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone... A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article. Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation. Learn More Support The Journal
