CHI chair resigns as review finds use of springs in child spinal surgeries was ‘wrong’

The chairman of the board of Children’s Health Ireland (CHI) has resigned in the wake of a scathing Health Information and Quality Authority (Hiqa) report on the use of non-medical devices at one of the hospitals.Dr Jim Browne apologised to the “children, young people and families that have been failed by the care they received, following the release of the Hiqa report” on Tuesday.He has been chair of the board since it was established in 2019.“Following discussions over recent weeks with the Department for Health, I now wish to step down and provide for an orderly transition to a new chair to allow for renewed enthusiasm and passion to guide this great organisation,” he said.The damning Hiqa report found the use of metal springs during spinal surgery on children in CHI at Temple Street Hospital was “wrong”. It found that non-CE-marked springs were implanted into three children between 2020 and 2022.It also revealed an “onerous and unrealistic” workload facing managers in all hospitals...