Parents raise fears of ‘scapegoating’
PARENTS of children operated on by the surgeon at the centre of the Temple Street scandal warned against making him a ‘scapegoat’ over years of inadequate healthcare provided to children with spina bifida, scoliosis and other conditions.
This week, it emerged that surgeon Connor Green implanted unauthorised devices in three children, and that most of his patients with complex spinal problems required further unplanned surgeries.
But parents of children who have had, or were supposed to have, operations performed by Mr Green said the scandal should be viewed in the context of an ongoing battle for better care for their children, whose conditions worsen as they wait years for surgery, with some becoming inoperable.
Founder and co-lead of the Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus Paediatric Advocacy Group, Amanda Coughlan Santry, told the Irish Mail on Sunday: ‘This is not all down to one man. This is a systematic failure of care for these children.’
Ms Coughlan Santry added that her group has ‘been beating this drum since 2017 – not only with CHI [Children’s Health Ireland], but with the Government and the HSE – that these children were experiencing massive consequences from the inaction of CHI in providing timely access to care’.
Vicky Fitzpatrick’s son Connor has spina bifida and had a series of operations to straighten his foot performed by Mr Green. Ms Fitzpatrick said: ‘What Mr Green has done for Connor and our family is absolutely unbelievable.’
Eight-year-old Connor rode his bike for the first time after he had a 3D-printed bone implanted last November, and had his first football training this week.
‘Nobody else wanted to know and people were even talking about doing amputation,’ Ms Fitzpatrick said. ‘Mr Green didn’t. He wanted to help as best he could. And for Connor to start training with a football team this week… he’s absolutely on cloud nine and so are we. So we are 100% behind him.’
Another parent, who preferred not to be named, said the surgeon had been ‘a thorn in the side’ of CHI for years and wondered if there was a ‘scapegoat’ element to his treatment now.
The parent said Mr Green was ‘incredibly vocal about the mistreatment of children’ with complex conditions.
He appeared before the Oireachtas Health Committee in November 2021, pushing for improved care of children.
‘While waiting for surgery, these kids have gone from walking independently to wheelchairs; from full-time school to home school; and from wearing shoes to open sores from their deformities, with no date for surgery,’ he told the committee.