'We will always have scoliosis surgery waiting lists': Health Minister wants no child to wait more than four months but it's not that simple, says top consultant

"The outsourcing of surgeries is one of numerous changes and efficiencies introduced by the Department of Health's new national paediatric spinal surgery management unit, which was set up in January."

"David Moore, the orthopaedic surgeon at Crumlin children's hospital who leads the new unit, said the children were selected for surgery outsourced overseas based on how long they have been waiting, their age, complexity and urgency."

"The State will fund two adults to travel with a patient, two of those flights will be business class, allowing the child to lie flat on reclining seats on the return leg home."

"Moore does not present outsourcing of surgeries as a triumph. He said he would much prefer if the surgeries could be done in Ireland, not least because of the level of upheaval involved for the children and their families."

Read at Irish Independent