Children on waiting lists have been 'physically harmed by lack of care' at CHI

The mother of the late Harvey Morrison, who died after waiting years for spinal surgery, has said that children are being "physically harmed by a lack of care" at Children's Health Ireland (CHI).

Gillian Sherratt attended a meeting yesterday with Tánaiste Simon Harris and Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill, where it was promised that an inquiry into the care of spina bifida and scoliosis patients at CHI will take place. 

The type of inquiry will be up to parents of the children in its care as well as parent's advocacy groups. 

The terms of reference and scope of the inquiry will also be up to the parents and groups. 

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“It would be our opinion that it should be a public statutory inquiry because we need to ensure that it is comprehensive and wide enough to uncover everything it needs to uncover and that people can be held to account,” Gillian said while speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland this morning. 

She described the care of children with spina bifida and scoliosis as a "puzzle" and said the government are only looking at "pieces rather than looking at it as a whole." 

This means that while they are looking at one area that has issues, there are failings in another, according to Gillian. 

“These children have been harmed, it’s not even that they didn’t get care, they’ve been physically harmed by the lack of care,” she said. 

Another meeting will take place in three weeks time to determine the course of action and what kind of inquiry will take place.

Gillian has previously called for Simon Harris to resign and when asked this morning about whether she still feels the same, she gave this response:

“If I was in a job where I was continuously not meeting my targets, I wouldn't be promoted, I would likely be let go." 

It's been just over two months since her son Harvey died but Gillian says she continues to fight for these children "in his honour."