Spinal Surgery Updates

📋 CHI Spinal Surgery Waiting List & Activity Report for May 2026

• Full report

• 109 patients are on an active wait list. These patients are completing their pre-operative assessments in order to ensure they are ready for surgery. They will be scheduled for a date for admission for surgery in the future.
• There are 43 planned procedures for a total of 37 patients. Some of these patients require more than one planned procedure as part of their ongoing care plan.
• Since January 2026, 158 procedures (132 active and 26 planned) were added to the surgical wait list while 200 spinal surgeries were carried out in the same timeframe. The list changes constantly, reflecting both progress and rising demand.
• At end of May 2026, CHI is fully compliant with two of the national waiting list targets.
• 99.2% of the total number of patients are waiting less than 12 months for first appointment.

The Weighted Average Wait Time for an OPD appointment has reduced over the last year and is now at 4.4 months. This is compared with 7.7 months at the same period in 2025.

At end May 2026, 33.7% of patients are waiting less than the Sláintecare targets. CHI remain focused on improving this target.

99.2% of the total number of patients are waiting less than 12 months for first appointment.

Patient Safety: All patients are prioritised for spinal surgery based on their diagnosis, size of spinal deformity, the presence of other conditions/co-morbidities, their age and the amount of growth they have left to do. Spinal surgery patients are also divided into two distinct groups: “complex” and “non-complex”, and there are different pathways for both to ensure standardised, safe care for all patients. More information (created in collaboration with the Spinal Patient Panel) can be found on our website:

• Complex Care Spinal Surgery Pathway
• Adolescent Ideopathic Scoliosis Pathway

Outpatient Clinics: Additional capacity, including weekend clinics, has reduced the number of patients waiting for their first outpatient appointment to 254 (in December 2025). This is a 47% reduction since January 2025, when this figure was 483.

OPD wait time has significantly fallen from December 2024 when the wait time was 9.7 months on average to 3.9 months in December 2025.

We continue to prioritise patients waiting the longest to bring these times down further, in line with Sláintecare targets.

Non-surgical treatment pathways: Not all scoliosis patients require surgery, and many are treated through observation, casting, or bracing. We currently have no delays for children who need braces or casts.

Spinal treatment abroad: Uptake of spinal treatment abroad remains low, often due to family preference or follow-up considerations.

Since January 2024, 19 patients have been treated abroad, while more than 1,000 surgeries have been carried out by CHI’s spinal services in Ireland in the same timeframe.

All families are being offered overseas treatment if clinically appropriate.

🗂️Paediatric Spinal Surgery Taskforce minutes on gov.ie (external link)

For spinal service patients and families only.

• Children's Health Ireland acknowledges the publication of HIQA report
• Children's Health Ireland launches new Scoliosis Information Hub for patients and families
• Children's Health Ireland welcomes the publication and findings of Health Service Executive review on the implementation of Scoliosis and Spina Bifida Action Plans 2022 and 2023

Attention all GPs:

From August 2025, spinal referrals without an accompanying X-ray will not be accepted.

• Digital scoliosis GP referrals: Send your scoliosis referrals through Healthlink (using the "spinal" drop-down menu for CHI at Crumlin referrals)
• Resource Pack: This pack contains information on the advised approach to take when you suspect scoliosis in a paediatric patient (under 16)
• Minimum Data Set requirements: It is important that all spinal referrals that we receive from GPs contain specific datasets, find more information here.
• Ordering spinal X-ray: In cases of suspected scoliosis, having an X-ray accompany your GP referral letter significantly improves the triage process. See the GP resource pack above for more information.