Two of the children were eventually granted medical assistance after an intervention by the HSE, but the third child, who was described as ‘seriously burned’, was refused due to lack of resources in that field. It was put forward that the hospital ‘could not cope’ with serious burns cases.
This incident came to light via minutes of the HSE’s Intercultural Health Governance Committee. The meeting also highlighted a raft of shortcomings in the refugee programme.
Other cases, such as a kidney transplant and a heart transplant, had previously been refused also.
One of the Syrian children suffered from leukemia, and his treatment was estimated to cost about €250,000, and though help was eventually granted, the HSE’s National Director of Acute Services and the hospital released a statement saying that they would not be in a position to take such children from the programme for a further two years.