People with spinal injuries ‘should not have to endure inadequate services’
It can take up to two years in some parts of the country before grant approval is given for vitally important, specially modified home accommodation.
And 70% of people with SCI are unemployed, according to Colm Whooley, chief executive of Spinal Injuries Ireland.
Between 1,000 and 1,200 people are living with spinal injuries, 37% due to road accidents and 29% resulting from falls.
“A major reason for not taking up employment is a fear of losing benefits,” said Mr Whooley at the launch of the first in-depth review of the impact of SCI, The Reality of Living with Spinal Cord Injury.
Spinal Injuries Ireland repeated its call that a needs-based disability card be introduced.
Mr Whooley said more people with SCI would go back to work if they could keep their means-tested medical card. Currently, SCI is not viewed as a long-term medical illness.
“The issue of personal care and assistance places an enormous strain on individual and their families,” he added. He said 76% of respondents to the survey required assisted living services but minimal funding was allocated to personal assistant services in the community.
“People with SCI have grappled with a shattering diagnosis,” said Mr Whooley. “Most have endured hospitalisation and surgery. Their lives have been radically altered. They should not have to endure inadequate services, inequitable access to such services and anything which further robs them of their dignity and independence.”
Dr Angela McNamara, a consultant at the National Rehabilitation Hospital, said people with spinal cord injury required major resource allocation and comprehensive support on returning to the community.
Spinal Injuries Ireland is urging the introduction of a tax credit for disabled people in employment. This would provide supports for the extra cost of living expenses, while improving the incentive to take up employment.
