Mother files 30 complaints against hospital after son's cancer treatment postponed due to bed shortage
The mother of a teenager with stage four cancer, whose treatment has been postponed on a number of occasions, has revealed she has lodged 30 complaints against Crumlin Children's Hospital.
Nadia Vavro is the latest mum to admit that her son was affected by delayed treatment a year before the latest controversy hit the Dublin hospital.
There was outrage at the weekend as the hospital cancelled cancer treatments over bed shortages earlier this month due to "significant pressures".
However, Nadia says scheduled chemotherapy appointments for her 14-year-old son, Slav, were also cancelled last minute due to bed shortages during his 27-week treatment last year.
Slav, from Laytown, Co. Meath, is battling a rare form of Alveolar Rhabdomyosarcoma which was diagnosed in January 2018.
The cancer lay undetected in the arch of his foot until it spread into his spine and bone marrow. After the gruelling chemotherapy, the family was told that any further treatment would be palliative and not curative.
During this time, Nadia said she was forced to lodge the complaints with the advocacy and patient service in Crumlin Hospital on various matters which she believed caused her son stress.
"During Slav's treatment, there was always a lack of beds and staff in an oncology ward and Slav's chemotherapy was usually delayed by between one and five days," she said.
"We lost count on how many times it was postponed but definitely in the second stage of his treatment, it was a regular occurrence
"We were sent to share other wards - imagine how risky it is with a child whose immune system is wiped out by chemo, to be mixed in with other sick children.
"It was hard to sleep last night after reading Leo's (Varadkar) comments on Saturday, I can't believe he didn't even know there was a separate ward for children fighting cancer.
"During Slav's treatment, I was sharing a room with another parent who was sleeping just behind the curtain so his floor mat was next to mine
"I made 30 complaints to the hospital in September 2018 after it all became too much. Parents of children having chemotherapy are in a very vulnerable position while focussed on saving the life of their children and making them as comfortable as they can.
"However this system is failing to provide basics. Our treatment was delayed so many times.
Imagine a child being somehow ready to get chemo and then getting a call from the hospital that there is no bed. And next day, the same story and so the agony continues for a couple of days.
"The level of anxiety of the child and parents is not possible to describe."
Nadia also raised the issues of a lack of pillows to ensure her son's comfort during treatment and her belief that her child should have been offered fresh vegetables for dinner, instead of sausages, chips and ketchup.
The former social worker who had to give up her job with the HSE to take care of her son also highlighted that Slav was left on a bed for hours waiting for a check which would take minutes, thus blocking up beds for other children.
"I was scared to talk to the media during Slav's treatment as the last thing you want to do is to fight with the hospital that has the life of your child in their hands.
"This failing system is being silently accepted for too long. It's time for a change."
Last week, anonymous lottery winners made Slav's Christmas wish come true when they donated €25,000 to Slav to pay the balance on an oxygen chamber to prolong his life.
A statement from Children's Health Ireland reads: "Periodically admission dates are changed for a number of reasons including demand on available beds.
"CHI at Crumlin is very cognisant of the impact on patients with cancer and their families that a change in admission for chemotherapy has and sincerely regrets that on occasion deferment of planned a admission occurs.
"The decision to delay planned inpatient admission is not undertaken lightly and when such a decision is made, it is made the priority at all times is to ensure a safe environment, with the safe delivery of care to all patients.
Due to several weeks of significant pressures on in-patient beds due to respiratory virus that impacts on children, CHI at Crumlin had in the month of December to date to postpone 5 in-patient admissions for cancer treatment – 3 were delayed by 1 day and 2 were delayed by 2 days.
"All patients impacted have commenced their treatment and are back on their planned schedule of treatment.
"Children's Health Ireland (CHI) cannot comment on individual cases. Maintaining a client’s confidentiality is not only an ethical requirement for CHI, it is also a legal requirement as defined in the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) along with the Data Protection Acts 1988-2018."
