It has been revealed today that the HSE spent almost €6 million in sending 30 children abroad for life-saving treatment that is readily available here.
The recent findings published by RTÉ’s Morning Ireland state that 30 young children were sent abroad to receive life saving treatment over the since 2012.
The report revealed that the vast majority of the children with respiratory and heart defects were sent to Sweden and the UK for treatment that could have received here.
It is believed the children were sent to those countries along with others in order to be treated by ECMO machines, even though they are already placed in Our Lady’s Children’s Hospital Crumlin.
However children a rarely given the life saving treatment here as the machines and their operators are not funded by the HSE.
The latest report has led to a number of parents and children’s advocacy groups to call on the Depart of Health and the HSE to make the necessary treatment to be made available here.