Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill has said that three members of the board of Children’s Health Ireland have resigned.
“We have had three resignations from the board this morning,” the Minister said.
The three people who resigned held voluntary positions on the board.
Speaking on RTÉ’s News at One programme, Ms Carroll MacNeill said she had made it clear that she had “strong questions about the governance of CHI and its direction towards the future”.
“We’ve had three resignations from the board this morning. These would be individuals who have worked on the board, worked in [a] volunteer capacity on the board since 2018,” she said.
The three members are Dr Gavin Lavery, Brigid McManus and Catherine Guy.
“I have said that very clearly we need to have a functional governance structure to enable us to get to the opening of the Children’s Hospital and to deal with the very many issues in children’s health,” Ms Carroll MacNeill said.
She said that she had not asked the board members to resign, as she did not have the authority to.
“I have a different relationship with the CHI board in statute than any other minister really has with most other boards. It is an unusual structure and I don’t have the authority to ask people to step down in the way that you normally might expect,” she said.
“I want to thank those people for the service that they have given to the public because we recognise that these are voluntary positions, and we are asking people to step out of their other lives to perform a public service in this measure,” she added.
The Minister said that she would be looking to fill the three vacant spots on the board in the coming days.
Elsewhere, the minister has also written to the Board of Children’s Health Ireland (CHI) looking for a full action plan in relation to an internal unpublished report concerning a consultant who it is alleged referred public patients to his private clinics.
Details of the report were published by The Sunday Times at the weekend.
The surgeries were paid for by the National Treatment Purchase Fund.
The minister has now received the 2021 report of this investigation and it is understood that advice is being sought by CHI on what can be published.
Separately, another report into spinal operations by Surgeon A at Temple Street, the Nayagam report, has not yet been received by the minister.
Meanwhile, the heads of the terms of reference for an expert panel to review dysplasia of the hip operations in children was due before Cabinet.
It follows the report into hip surgery last week which found that almost 80% of surgeries were not necessary at National Orthopaedic Hospital Cappagh and 60% were not necessary at CHI Temple Street.
That audit covered 2021-2023, and as a result parents of children who had these operations going back to 2010 are also being offered reviews.
A helpline has been operating since last week to assist parents and has received several hundred calls.
The expert panel will be chaired by an international expert and will have a range of specialists in radiology, orthopaedics, paediatrics and other areas.
Parental consent will be needed in order for the panel to review if the surgery conducted on a child was necessary.
Ms Carroll MacNeill has written to the Royal College of Surgeons for its assistance in the matter.
The full details of the terms of reference are be completed at a later stage.
