Harris says he ‘wrestled’ on scoliosis care pledge
TAOISEACH Simon Harris admitted he has “wrestled” with his previous commitment that scoliosis patients would be seen within four months.
While he again insisted the time frame was given to him by the HSE, the former Health Minister said he was not attempting to “pass the buck” and accepted responsibility for the pledge.
While he held the health potfolio in 2017, Mr Harris stated no child with scoliosis, spina bifida or other spinal issues would wait for more than four months for spinal surgery.
This target was never fully met. The latest figures from Children’s Health Ireland show there were 270 kids on surgery waiting lists.
Speaking on RTE’S Today with Claire Byrne yesterday, Mr Harris said there was “rightful public disgust” when the delays came to light and he then engaged with the HSE.
While accepting that the four-month timeframe was not met, he argued that surgeries sped up after the pledge was made.
Mr Harris added: “The HSE were very clear that they wanted to deliver a four-month target.
“That wasn’t a target made up by me as a politician. It was a target given to me by the director general of the HSE based on clinical advice that no child should wait longer than four months.
“I absolutely adopted that target. What minister wouldn’t?
“We put very significant resources into it.
“I’ve wrestled with this. You can be quite sure I wondered, ‘Was this the right thing to do or the wrong thing to do’ many times.
“What I’m absolutely confident of is that the wait times for children fell and more children got surgeries as a result of that.
“That’s not to take away… I take ownership of this. It is not to pass the buck. I’m giving the context. I said it, there’s no two ways about it.”