ARE OUR HOSPITALS SAFE FOR OUR CHILDREN? 🇮🇪
I think not. This is the latest scandal in a long line.
Previously surgeons at Temple Street were found to be putting non medical grade implements into children in orthopaedic surgery cases. With nuts and bolts being sourced from Amazon and even Woodies DIY (reported by The Ditch at the time). At least one child died (Dollceanna Carter, 10). Several others needed additional surgeries.
Also, two hospitals have been found to be sending children for unnecessary hip dysplasia surgeries for insurance money (Cappagh Orthopaedic Hospital and Temple Street). Meanwhile, children who actually need spinal surgeries have been left to languish in agony and suffering. Around 130 remain on the waiting list, and Harvey Morrison Sherratt died (9). It would cost the state an estimated 5.2 million to carry out these surgeries. Meanwhile, last year, they sent 810 million abroad for "foreign aid" (not a cent of it is actually traceable in any real verifiable sense). Tax payers with children who need surgeries are being essentially seeing their money be sent abroad in what stinks of corruption and money laundering.
There has been no criminal inquiry into either scandal described here.
Sometimes hospitals are simply unavoidable. We all know this. There was nothing the parents in these cases could have done to protect their children. But if you have to go to a hospital with your child, do not be afraid to question things or push against that which your gut tells you is wrong. You know your child best. Sometimes, politeness can get in the way. Or an unwillingness to question professionals (which has been drummed into us from an early age).
When my child was young, she was in hospital for severe dehydration following a stomach bug. She couldn't keep fluids down and then refused to take them altogether. The hospital staff insisted I shove a bottle in her mouth and make her drink electrolytes. If I could have achieved that, I would have done it at home. They sat me in a line of chairs on a ward with her in my arms. Besides, many infectious children. They did not put her on a drip. Nor check her ketones. They only did so when I insisted. Her organs were found to be under pressure.
On another occasion, she had a heart rate of 156, and it could not be lowered. They then went to discharge her, forgetting this alarming symptom. It was only when I pointed out that they hadn't checked her heart rate before discharge, and they then checked it again. They then kept her in on the basis it was so high.
When she was a week old, a Nigerian nurse kept putting her on her face, which is contraindicated because it is now known that it can cause SIDS (cot death). There's more shocking details to that story, which I will disclose another time, but suffice to say she could not have been qualified.
The consequences of me not speaking up on those occasions could have been devastating.
Sometimes, I found staff overworked and short-staffed, but lovely and attempting to do their best (which does not equate to patients being safe). Sometimes, I found staff rude and arrogant. Or inexperienced (very young and unsupervised). I have also, as mentioned, had occasions where I found staff to be totally incompetent and questioned their qualifications. Some of the staff were Irish. Some not. I've also found language barriers to be an issue. English must be perfect in an Irish hospital. Otherwise, lives are at risk. That's indisputable.
We all heard about Jessica Sheedy this week. How many more victims are there like Jess? I say victims because that is what they are. There should be a criminal punishment involved for
Dr Ashish Lal. Who performed complicated abdominal surgery on a young lady despite having no expertise in that area. He had primarily operated on breasts. He filmed the surgery without permission also. As the victims mother said "he experimented on our daughter".
How is this Ireland in 2026?
By Susanne Delaney