An HSE helpline for families concerned about their children who underwent hip dysplasia surgery has been branded “useless” by a whistleblower who works for it.
After an audit concluded that many children who underwent the procedure did so unnecessarily, the HSE promised that at least 1,800 cases would be reviewed.
All patients who underwent the procedure since 2010 are to be contacted and an HSE helpline has been set up.
Hip surgery
While many contacting the helpline expected to speak to trained medical personnel, one Lunchtime Live listener wrote in to say that is not the case.
“I just listened to the segment on the hip dysplasia surgery review, and I want to just confirm the fact that the helpline is in fact useless, and I say this as someone who is working on it,” they said.
“I work for one of the call centres that has contracts with the HSE and on Friday afternoon. Me and my team were switched to the CHI helpline with no prior warning or any information whatsoever about what had happened.
“After about 20 minutes of absolute confusion we were pulled into meetings, and a two page document of FAQs was shared with us to help answer people's questions - this document is already on the HSE website.”
The whistleblower added that they have “no access to any extra information” because they do not work for the HSE.
“The press release by the HSE states that specialist hip dysplasia nurses would be answering these calls - that seems to have been an outright lie,” they continued.
“We have been told not to tell the callers that we work for a call centre and have been told to lie and say we work for the HSE, we were even told to not tell the callers that we are not medically trained unless we are asked outright.
“None of us want any part in furthering the stress of these parents, we are so disgusted by how the HSE has handled this.”
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'We regret any issues'
In a statement to Newstalk, the HSE said they “regret” that some families feel unhappy with their experience contacting the hotline.
“The information line was set up on behalf of Children’s Health Ireland (CHI) and the National Orthopaedic Hospital at Cappagh (NOHC) in response to the publication of the Developmental Dysplasia Hip Audit,” the spokesperson said.
“It was set up to provide information for concerned families, with a referral pathway to a site-specific clinician for further support if needed.
“In order to handle the expected high volume of calls the information line was stood up swiftly, manned by HSE call takers and contracted providers.”
The HSE described this as “standard practice” for an official helpline.
“Callers that seek further clinical support are referred to the relevant site with a call-back arranged,” they added.
“As of 8pm, Tuesday 27 May 2025, 323 calls have been received, 20% have been referred for a follow up call by the clinical team.
“We regret any issues that call takers may be experiencing, there is an agreed pathway for concerns to be escalated internally.”
Taoiseach Micheál Martin has described the hip dysplasia surgery scandal as “very serious” and promised the Government would move quickly to “strengthen” failures of governance identified within the health service.
Main image: Surgery instruments. Picture by: Alamy.com.
