The family of the late Harvey Morrison Sherratt are to meet with Tánaiste and former Minister for Health Simon Harris after issuing calls for his resignation. In a statement today, Harvey’s mother Gillian said that no date has been set for the meeting, and that they will “continue to call for” the resignation of Mr Harris.
Little Harvey (9) died last month after years of suffering due to spina bifida and scoliosis, having waited years for urgent scoliosis surgery. Mr Harris, as Minister for Health, back in 2017, promised that no child in Ireland would wait longer than four months for scoliosis treatment.
Harvey waited for seven years, during which time his quality of life reduced and pain increased as the curvature on his spine grew to a life-threatening 130 degrees. Because of the wait for surgery, Harvey’s condition meant that his spinal curve began to crush his ribcage and lungs, putting pressure on his heart. He eventually had surgery last December.
Last week, Harvey’s parents, Gillian and Stephen had called for the resignation of Simon Harris, slamming the fact that he had not met with them in the months prior to Harvey’s death.
Almost 15,000 people have signed an online petition calling for the resignation of Mr Harris.
Ms Sherratt said that Mr Harris promised to meet with herself and her husband last September to discuss Harvey’s lack of care, writing on X: “10 months on and that meeting never happened, and now Harvey is gone.”
Writing on X this evening, Gillian Sherratt wrote: “Today, just over 2 weeks after Harvey’s passing we did receive a call from @SimonHarrisTD and we have tentatively agreed to meet however no date is yet set. We will have a specific list of things we will be demanding to protect the children that are still here and still depending on [Children’s Health Ireland] for care.
“We won’t accept anything less than what we are asking. Harvey had to compromise on his care for the entirety of his life and we won’t be accepting any compromises now. We will continue to call on his resignation until such time that we have secured confirmation that these terms are being met.”
Multiple politicians have now joined calls for the resignation of Simon Harris, as the hashtag “Justice For Harvey” continues to trend on social media. Last week, Senator Sharon Keogan said that Mr Harris “must step down” as she hit out at the Fine Gael leader for “making heartfelt promises to families grappling with the anguish of their sick children, only to turn your back on them.”
“Harvey Morrison was entitled to his surgery, and every Irish soul would have moved mountains to ensure he received it. Yet, Simon Harris, armed with far more influence than I, failed to turn those words into action,” the Independent senator said.
“Now, it’s too late for Harvey, and Gillian and Stephen are left heartbroken, mourning a child they fought desperately to protect, only to be abandoned by the very government—and the very man, Simon Harris—who vowed to support them.
“In politics, integrity is everything. But allowing a child to perish unnecessarily on your watch? That’s simply inexcusable.”
Peadar Tóibín of Aontú also called on Simon Harris to resign, saying he was “deeply saddened” to learn of his death. “Harris said that no child would wait more than 4 months for an operation. That sadly did not happen,” he said.
Other opposition politicians have also called for the resignation of Mr Harris, including Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald.
Mark Ward, Sinn Fein TD for Dublin Mid West, said today that he met with the parents of Harvey, adding to calls for Mr Harris’s resignation.
“Today I met with the parents of Harvey Sherratt. I fully support them in calling for a Statutory Public Inquiry to deal with the scoliosis crisis in Ireland. CHI is a basket case and radical change is needed so more children are not failed by Harvey,” he said, adding: “Of course Harris should resign. In fact he can take the rest of his inept government with him.”