I want to talk about CHI and the enormous damage being done to children in this country. I received a reply to a parliamentary question today which states that 525 scoliosis operations were cancelled in the past four years. That figure has doubled within just three years. Half of the reasons were given as clinical but we know that Harvey Morrison Sherratt was taken off the waiting list for clinical reasons. That is a very broad brush. We also know that 20% of the cancellations are unaccounted for at the moment. We are not told in which hospitals this is happening and we are also told there has been an increase in the number of emergencies. That leads me to believe there is a capacity issue if those emergencies are knocking existing operations off the chart.

The information that has been provided to parent is damagingly slow. Phase 1 of the Nayagam report is complete but parents have been refused sight of it. Why have the recommendations of the Nayagam report not even been published at this stage? Why are parents receiving redacted documents relating to their children? In terms of the statutory inquiry, we are no further along. There was a promise that terms of reference would be sorted out within 16 weeks. There are two weeks left of that deadline. The campaign group has not even been brought in to meet the Minister to discuss the terms of reference. When will the terms of reference be provided? It is likely that they will not be provided for at least another three, four or five months. Families are furious at the lack of support they are getting from Government.

In terms of cancellations, the latest information I have from CHI and the Department of Health for last year states that about 164 surgeries were cancelled, some due to clinical decisions. Some 48% were cancelled due to clinical decisions. Some 19% were due to personal or family reasons and some were due to a patient's ill-health, about 11%.

At least 20%-----

Of those, 115 cases were replaced with another spinal patient. I would like to see more follow-through on the number of patients who were cancelled. Timely information should be given to parents of children in situations like that. The Deputy must be aware why phase 1 of the Nayagam report has not been published.

The recommendations-----

There was a court injunction. The Deputy must be aware of that. My understanding is that there was a commitment given to the High Court that until phase 2 was completed, phase 1 would not be published. There is a lot of litigation around this and that is the main reason stuff is not being published. The inquiry will be focused on that.

I asked a question about the terms of reference.

I will believe there will be progress on that.

There has been no meeting with the families on the terms of reference.