THE PARENTS OF 9-year-old Harvey Morrison Sherratt, who died two months ago after waiting years for spinal surgery, will today meet with Tánaiste Simon Harris and Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill.
Gillian and Stephen have long called for a meeting with Harris, who pledged, while Minister for Health in 2017, that no child would wait longer than four months for spinal surgery.
Today, they will meet with him and the current Health Minister to discuss the failures in their son’s medical care and the failures affecting children waiting for spinal surgery in general.
Harvey was born with spina bifida, hydrocephalus and developing scoliosis and was partially paralysed and non-verbal. He died on 29 July this year, eight months after eventually having surgery having waited years for his operation.
At one point, he was also removed from a spinal surgery waiting list without the knowledge of his parents.
Since his death, his parents have continued their campaign to improve the medical care received by children with spinal health issues.
They have called for Harris to resign for his failure to keep the promises he made in relation to the care of children with scoliosis.
More widely, CHI, the HSE and the Government have been widely criticised by advocacy groups and opposition politicians for their handling of a series of crises involving children’s healthcare in Ireland over the last two years.
Not only have many children faced delays for surgery with CHI, but unnecessary hip surgeries have also been performed on children who didn’t need them, a report has found.
Harris spoke to Harvey’s mother, Gillian, by phone last month.
Following the call, a spokesperson for the Tánaiste said he had sought, through the Minister for Health, a full multidisciplinary report on the timeline of care provided to Harvey.
