Children’s Health Ireland (CHI) is facing a major crisis after an explosive report revealed that unapproved metal springs were implanted in children’s spines at Temple Street Hospital.
The implants, which were bought online and never cleared for medical use, were used in surgeries on vulnerable children without proper consent, oversight, or ethical approval.
The findings, published in a damning report released by the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) last week, have triggered national outrage and calls for the immediate removal of the CHI board.
HIQA’s investigation revealed serious breaches in governance, a breakdown in safety protocols, and systemic failures in how surgical implants are introduced and regulated within the hospital system.
At the centre of the scandal are three children who underwent spinal surgery involving non-CE marked springs, used as part of an unauthorised attempt to replicate an experimental procedure.
The review, conducted independently by HIQA, was launched after public concern and whistleblower revelations about the use of unapproved devices in paediatric scoliosis surgeries.
who engaged with us and provided valuable insights into their experiences of the service,” he said.
The report paints a bleak picture of how internal hospital systems failed to protect patients.
HIQA identified major weaknesses in the controls meant to safeguard against inappropriate medical device use.
Inadequate governance structures and confusion around reporting lines, particularly since an organisational restructure in 2019, meant key safety checks were either skipped or rendered meaningless.
As a result, children were exposed to unnecessary risk through the use of unsafe, untested devices.
Following the release of the report, the chairman of the board of CHI, Dr Jim Browne, who had been in his role since 2019, resigned.
In his statement he apologised to the “children, young people and families that have been failed by the care they received, following the release of the Hiqa report”
The political fallout has been immediate and fierce.
Labour health spokesperson Marie Sherlock TD (pictured above) has called for the entire board of CHI to be disbanded, arguing that it has lost all credibility and cannot be trusted to implement the wide-ranging reforms now required.
“The devastating HIQA report into spinal surgeries carried out by CHI raises a series of fundamental questions.
“Patients, their families and the wider public need to have confidence that the board of CHI can both oversee significant reforms and manage the transition to the new children’s hospital building,” she said.
“Given the seriousness of the systemic failure within CHI to properly protect children in their care and the enormity of the scandal regarding hip operations which we do not have full detail on, I am not confident the existing board can make the necessary changes in an urgent and comprehensive manner.”
Sherlock expressed deep concern about the board’s makeup, noting that five members have served since 2018, one since 2020, and only one is a clinician.
She pointed to Section 12 of the Children’s Health Act, which requires board members to have experience or expertise related to CHI’s functions or corporate governance.
“This does not seem appropriate to me given the serious level of oversight that should have been expected of the board,” she said.
“Labour does not believe that the board can continue.”
She also rejected the government’s attempts to frame the issue as the actions of a single rogue surgeon.
“While Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael are seeking to downplay the issue as the actions of a single surgeon, it is much broader than that.
“The care of three children prompted the HIQA report, but on careful analysis of the report, it’s clear that the system failed, and the board failed in its duty.”
People Before Profit TD Paul Murphy (pictured above) echoed those concerns and called the scandal another shocking example of how the state has failed to protect children.
Murphy revealed that he raised questions about the licensing of surgical implants in May 2023, asking the Minister for Health whether all devices used in spinal surgeries at Temple Street and Crumlin hospitals were properly licensed.
At the time, CHI responded that to the best of its knowledge, implants were appropriately approved. But a whistleblower was already raising the alarm that this was not the case.
“The surgeon in question was buying metal springs off the internet that were not designed for any medical purpose, and inserting them into vulnerable children,” Murphy said.
“This has been a major failure of governance at Children’s Hospital Ireland and another failure of children by this state.
“The reality is that this appalling failure would not have come to light without a very brave whistleblower speaking out; without a series of parliamentary questions; and without the reporting of the Ditch.”
Murphy also drew attention to further allegations that have emerged in recent weeks.
Reporting by The Ditch has suggested that nearly 80 percent of hip operations performed on children in Cappagh Hospital, and 60 percent of those carried out in Temple Street, were unnecessary.
One whistleblower has alleged that some of these surgeries may have been performed purely for financial gain.
In response, families affected by the spinal implant scandal have called for a full, independent public inquiry.
Murphy has endorsed that demand and said he will raise the matter directly with the Taoiseach, urging the government to commit to a broad investigation that includes adult as well as paediatric patients, and a thorough examination of all governance failures that allowed these actions to continue unchecked.
In the wake of the report, HIQA has issued a series of recommendations aimed at overhauling the flawed systems that allowed the use of unsafe implants on children.
Nine of these recommendations are directed specifically at CHI, while others apply more broadly to HSE-funded and private hospitals.
They focus on improving procurement practices, enforcing proper consent procedures, and ensuring that new or experimental medical practices are subject to rigorous clinical and ethical review before being introduced into care settings.
For the families affected, these recommendations are only the beginning.
The emotional and physical toll of what happened will not be erased by policy changes alone.
There is a growing demand not just for reform, but for accountability. Trust in CHI’s leadership has been shattered.
That an unlicensed, non-medical device could be implanted in a child without consent or scrutiny, in a hospital meant to represent the gold standard of paediatric care, has deeply shaken public confidence.
As the country prepares for the opening of a long-awaited national children’s hospital, the public will demand not just a new building, but a new standard of care, transparency, and accountability for every child who enters its doors.