Temple Street Spinal Surgery Scandal: CHI Chair Resigns After HIQA Report

Tuesday, 8 April 2025 15:51

By Tara Flanagan

Chair of CHI's board, Dr. Jim Browne, has announced his resignation this afternoon

A new report reveals significant failures in governance at Children's Health Ireland (CHI).

A HIQA investigation found NO approval was given for the use of unregulated metal springs in three spinal surgeries at Temple Street Children's Hospital between 2020 and 2022.

The report contains 19 recommendations to CHI and the HSE to improve oversight - and the chair of CHI's board, Dr. Jim Browne, has announced his resignation this afternoon.

Seán Egan, HIQA's Director of Healthcare Regulation, says inadequate controls were in place to protect children from the risk of harm:

More from National News

Survivors’ Stories And Counselling Gave Kildare Woman Maeve Leahy Strength To Speak Out About Abuse

Audio

Thomas Howard, the 79-year-old former GAA referee from Old Kilcullen, was sentenced to six years and nine months in prison at Tullamore Circuit Court.
€34.5m Boost Backs Quest To Study Memory Loss And Build 3-D Biodegradable Spinal Supports

Other funded work includes discovering new yeast species in Irish ecosystems, and studying how early-life memories are lost and how this process differs in autism and between sexes, to potentially "reverse" memory loss.
13 New Gardaí For Kildare - But No Increase For Part-Time Maynooth Station

Audio

Maynooth, which is similar in size to Leixlip, still operates only a part-time Garda station and no new Gardai have been allocated to the station under the latest deployment.
Kildare’s Rain Warning Brought Forward To 9am As Remnants Of Storm Claudia Approach Ireland

A Status Orange alert for heavy rain in Dublin, Wexford and Wicklow will be in effect from 12 noon today until 8am tomorrow.
Christmas Gift Caution As E-Scooters Leading Cause Of Child Brain Injuries

Parents are being advised not to buy them for children.
€540k Worth Of Ketamine Seized In Major Kildare Raid

A man in his 20s was arrested.
Former GAA Referee Thomas Howard From Old Kilcullen Jailed For Indecently Assaulting His Niece

He previously appeared before Judge Sinéad McMullen at Tullamore Circuit Court, where the court heard details of the abuse of his niece, Maeve Leahy, during the mid-1980s and 1990s.
Mother Of Late Harvey Morrison Focused On Change For Children With Spina Bifida And Scoliosis

Audio

It's after the government agreed to set up a statutory public inquiry into the care of those children.