Parents of Harvey Sherratt 'shocked' at whistleblower claims about son’s care by CHI

David Raleigh

The parents of Harvey Sherratt (9), who suffered while waiting for scoliosis surgery, have said they were “shocked” at a whistleblower’s claims that Children's Health Ireland (CHI) had removed their son from its active spinal surgery waiting list after it wrongly determined he was a “palliative” patient.

The protected disclosure by a CHI insider, seen by this reporter, alleges the boy was later deemed to be “suitable for surgery once bone density is improved” by a consultant surgeon, based at Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH), who had examined the boy in Dublin, in May 2024.

The disclosure alleges that despite senior CHI staff being made aware of this, management was misinformed that the GOSH consultant had in fact “agreed with the CHI opinion” that the boy was “not fit or ready for surgery”.

“Even if Harvey was palliative, which I can say 100 per cent he was not, why is that not in his medical records? Why was he not linked to a palliative care team? It makes no sense,” said Harvey’s mother, Gillian Sherratt.

“Harvey wasn’t even on prescription pain relief, which you’d think would be the very least a child receiving palliative care would be getting,” Ms Sherratt said.

Ms Sherratt said the claims made in the protected disclosure came as a “huge shock” to her and her husband, Stephen Morrison.

Ms Sherratt said her son’s medical team “not once” mentioned during Harvey’s treatment that he required palliative care.

She said: “I think we would remember that discussion”.

Harvey’s parents are to meet Health Minister Jennifer Carroll MacNeill and Tánaiste Simon Harris at a pre-planned meeting on Monday to discuss the terms of an independent inquiry into CHI’s handling of Harvey’s case.

Ms Sherratt said she will be asking Ms MacNeill and Mr Harris for “clarity” on what the Government’s response is to the protected disclosure, first reported by the Sunday Times.

“The first thing I want (the Minister) to do is to get to the bottom of actually what happened - the true version of events — the good, the bad, and the ugly of all of it, we want to know.”

“There could be other kids in a similar situation.”

The boy’s parents said that, despite repeatedly asking CHI why their son had been removed from the surgery waiting list, they have not been given an adequate answer.

Ms Sherratt discovered her son was no longer on the waiting list in August 2024 when she contacted CHI, querying why she had not heard anything about Harvey’s scoliosis surgery plan.

Harvey had been waiting at least three and a half years for the surgery, and at that stage the curve on his spine had grown to a life-threatening 130 degrees.

Harvey eventually had the surgery in December 2024. However, despite his overall health improving after surgery, he suddenly deteriorated eight months later, and he died on July 29th.

“It’s been fifteen months since I found out that Harvey was removed from the list, and it is just getting worse,” Ms Sherratt said.

“We still have no clarity or any accountability as to what led to that.”

Ms Sherratt said that she will continue to lobby the government for a full statutory inquiry into CHI’s management of services for children with scoliosis and spina bifida.

The protected disclosure, which was made initially in August 2025 and further information was provided last October, also claimed that “threats to silence” a staff member were made after concerns were raised internally within CHI about Harvey Sherratt’s case.

The whistleblower stated they were making the disclosure due to their “concerns about patient safety” and “governance” at CHI.

CHI, the HSE, and the Department of Health have all been contacted for comment.

A spokesperson at the Department of Health responded this evening: “In accordance with the Protected Disclosures Act, the Department of Health does not comment on individual protected disclosures.”

A HSE spokeswoman said that, in late summer, the chief executive of the HSE, Bernard Gloster, received a draft timeline from CHI in respect of Harvey’s care, and that he sent this draft to Harvey’s parents for any input they might wish to give.

The HSE spokeswoman said that Mr Gloster was “anxious to discuss with Harvey’s parents, when they are ready, the possibility of an HSE review of his care”.

“And, in the event of any review, any and all available information will be considered,” the HSE spokeswoman added.

A Children's Health Ireland spokesperson said: "We at Children’s Health Ireland (CHI) continue to extend our deepest condolences to the Morrison–Sherratt family on the loss of their son, Harvey.

“Many of our staff cared for Harvey his whole life, and are deeply affected by his passing. We remain available to meet Harvey’s family, if and when they wish to do so.”

“CHI cannot comment publicly about Harvey’s individual case. Even if a family decides to make their story public, we are still bound by patient confidentiality for all patients.”