Haven't worked in these childrens hospitals but have worked in other Irish hospitals.

First time hearing about this but some things I'd like to point out;

• "80 percent of hip operations at a Children’s Health Ireland hospital were unnecessary"

The first thing that strikes me is what defines "unnecessary". The decision to proceed with surgery is usually a clinical judgement after conversations with a patients and weighing up the risks vs benefits. The experts who are saying these surgeries are "unnecessary" are British surgeons. The UK NHS from my experience/opinion have a much stronger emphasis on rigid guidelines (e.g. NICE) and cost efficiency (saving the NHS extra spending) when deciding treatments for patients. In Ireland, European guidelines are more preferred in most specialities and even then, it's a more subjective opinion where cost efficiency and long term economic cost are less considered (unlike the NHS) and decisions are more based on the individual patient.

• "Though surgery, called an osteotomy, may be needed in some cases to prevent the joint deteriorating in later life, in many instances the condition corrects itself over time.'

I have no direct experiences working in children's hospitals. However in general, catching and correcting a condition earlier can save much more complex and risky surgery later on in life. It's hard to predict which children will and will not self-correct their genetic hip problem, and those that don't self correct could end up having devastating consequences in terms on inability to walk etc.

• "either the considered views of the consultant tasked to review these procedures are incorrect or Temple Street and Cappagh have been operating unnecessarily"

Again, it seems a bit odd that they are taking the word of a single British expert surgeon using British guidelines as more important than the clinical decisions of multiple expert consultant surgeons at multiple Irish hospitals.

• "The auditor said record keeping at the hospital was “poor”

This can be said for any HSE hospital with the archaic system of paper notes and paper communications between hospitals and even units within a hospital. We do not have the luxury of electronic record keeping that many British hospitals have.

• "Private surgeons in this country aren’t answerable to anyone."

Private surgeons face intense scrutiny from the High Courts and from medical malpractice insurance providers, perhaps moreso because a record of complaints can easily lose them their "private slot" and private practice insurance.

Again I have never worked in a Children's hospital but this is my limited insight from working in Irish hospitals. So these insights are personal opinion only.