Taoiseach ‘can’t comprehend’ why Harvey was removed from surgery waiting list

The Taoiseach has said he “can’t comprehend” why Harvey Morrison Sherratt was “deliberately” removed from a waiting list for surgery, adding he, the Tanaiste and Minister for Health would meet Harvey’s parents on Wednesday afternoon.

Micheal Martin responded to Mary Lou McDonald at Leader’s Questions after she raised issues about the care received by the nine-year-old who died in July after waiting years for spinal surgery.

Harvey’s parents Stephen Morrison and Gillian Sherratt say in the time he waited for surgery the curve in his spine went from 75 degrees to 130 degrees.

And by the time he was operated on last December, the curve had reached the point where it could not be fully corrected.

At the weekend, The Sunday Times reported a series of allegations made by a whistleblower in Children’s Health Ireland (CHI) who alleged Harvey was taken off a surgery waiting list in the summer of 2024 because CHI believed he was a palliative patient.

Ms McDonald claimed “it was widely known that Harvey was deliberately moved from the waiting list despite being fit for surgery”, adding: “His parents didn’t know, though, nobody told them, they were left in the dark.”

Ms McDonald also said Harvey’s parents only found out why he was removed from the list from the newspaper report.

The Taoiseach replied: “I want to make it clear that neither myself, the Tanaiste nor the Minister for Health had any awareness of this” and that the allegations made by the whistleblower are currently being investigated.

He added: “I don’t know why would someone be motivated to deliberately remove the child from a surgical waiting list without telling the parents, that to me, is something that I can’t comprehend and that does need to be the subject matter of an inquiry.”

In September, the Taoiseach, Taniste Simon Harris and Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill met the family and agreed an inquiry into the care of children with scoliosis and spina bifida in Ireland would take place.

Mr Martin said Wednesday’s meeting was to ”make progress on the nature and format of an inquiry”.

Last month, Mr Harris won a motion of confidence on his record in Government which arose out of a series of scandals at CHI, including the handling of Harvey’s case.

His parents had called for Mr Harris’s resignation.