The parents of a child with spina bifida who required emergency surgery to resolve problems linked to prior treatment in Temple Street are calling for a widening of the scope of the review which was announced on Monday.

Denise O'Hehir, whose eight-year-old daughter Abbierose has had multiple surgeries in Temple Street, says she contacted the Health Service Executive (HSE) on Tuesday having heard news reports, and was told her child’s care did not fall within the scope of the review.

"As far as they're concerned, at the moment, they're only dealing with spinal [surgery cases]," she said.

Abbierose was operated on in June 2022 to resolve knee and foot issues. Her mother Denise says within days there was evidence of infection, and she returned to Temple Street.

"Straight away, when we arrived, they did a scan, and they did bloods, and they realised that the femur bone had broken and all the plates and screws had come loose and they needed to operate again," Denise told Prime Time.

"She was rushed for emergency surgery, and she had a massive haematoma."

It is impossible to determine if the breakage was because of poor bone density or a direct consequence of the surgery.

She says the additional surgery required further screws to be put in place, "which is obviously not good for a child with spina bifida because their bone density isn't very good."

"The likelihood of her having to have more surgery down the line is very high because the bones in kids with spina bifida are weaker than ours," she added.

Ms O’Hehir is calling for the review to include all orthopedic surgery carried out in Temple Street in recent years.

Temple Street is managed by the Children’s Health Ireland (CHI) hospital group.

"I think the HSE and CHI have to come out and review all these kids around that time frame, to give us peace of mind," she said.

Speaking to Prime Time, Gerry Maguire, CEO of Spina Bifida Hydrocephalus Ireland (SBHI), also called for the scope of the review to be widened to include all surgeries involving children with spina bifida in recent years to "assuage the concerns of parents."

"Temple Street is the place where children with spina bifida went, as a form of correcting things that were wrong with them, to make their lives better," he said.

"It's been proven now that it's actually made their lives worse... that's what the report has said that it's made children's lives deteriorate, and their disability disimprove instead of improving," Mr. Maguire said.

Denise O’Hehir said she has lost trust in Children’s Health Ireland (CHI) but has no option other than to return to Temple Street.

"We have nowhere else to go. We cannot have our trust in CHI anymore, and that is terrifying in itself. We rely on this hospital to give our daughter the best care possible, and knowing that this is going on, it is absolutely terrifying."

In response to queries from Prime Time about the scope of the review, the HSE said in a statement that the terms of reference are "broad enough to accommodate as many orthopaedic surgeries as necessary."

A UK consultant had been commissioned to examine "the clinical care provided by an individual consultant based at Temple Street."

A prior HSE statement issued on Monday detailed how staff from CHI had met with 19 families in recent weeks, and "commissioned a [external] team to investigate this very serious matter."

"We would like to reassure our patients and their families that everybody known to have been affected has been contacted," the statement said.

On Tuesday, CHI said "we understand the concern that these announcements have also caused for other patients and families in Temple Street, who may not have been included in the review, but are on our waiting lists for spinal surgery. We know that many will have questions about what this means for their child’s treatment and waiting time."

They said a helpline had been set up for concerned individuals, which will be open Monday to Friday from 9AM to 5PM. Families can reach the helpline on (01) 409 6117.

Conor Wilson's full report features on the Tuesday 19 August edition of Prime Time.