Concern over shortage of neurologists

PATIENTS with potentially lethal brain disorders have to wait up to two years for specialist treatment because of a chronic shortage of neurologists in Ireland.

As a result, many patients are denied access to new life-saving drugs for conditions such as multiple sclerosis (MS).

According to Dr Brian Sweeney, consultant neurologist at Cork University Hospital, the ratio of neurologists to patients in Ireland is by far the worst in Europe.

"In the case of neurology, there are 16 people in public service, which is one for 250,000 people, well below the European average," said Dr Sweeney, speaking as Brain Awareness Week was launched by President Mary McAleese yesterday.

"There should be a minimum of one for 100,000 although the European norm is one in 40,000," he said.

Dr Sweeney described as "quite shocking" the fact that it has taken 22 years for an extra neurologist to be appointed in Cork.

"There is a real need for action. There are still vast tracts in the north-west and south-east without any access to neurologists," he said, speaking on RTÉ radio.

Dr Sweeney said some people with MS are denied access to new drugs, such as Tysabri, because there are not enough neurologists available to monitor the treatment and ensure that patients do not suffer serious side effects.

Up to half a million people in Ireland have a disabling neurological problem, according to the Neurological Alliance of Ireland (NAI), the national umbrella organisation for voluntary groups and professionals in the field.

At the launch of Brain Awareness Week, it was revealed that young men who survive road smashes account for 45% of acquired brain injury (ABI) cases seen by Headway, the voluntary support agency.

Headway spokeswoman Clodagh O'Brien called for specialist ABI services across Ireland. The range of care for those people leaving acute hospitals after a brain injury were not well-established, she said.

For the past 21 years, Headway has been providing community-based services to people with ABI.

An estimated 8,000 to 10,000 people incur head injuries each year, while a further 7,000 people suffer strokes.

"We currently have 470 people attending our services in Dublin, Cork, Limerick and Kerry," said Ms O'Brien.

"In the future we are hoping to work with specialised organisations in the mental health sector to advocate for better care and facilities for people affected by brain injury."

President McAleese said the numbers admitted to hospital with a head injury or suffering from a stroke were "very sobering statistics. The numbers mean that even as we meet here right now, before the day is out, some 50 men, women or children's lives will have changed course dramatically during the past 24 hours."

* For more information, log onto www.headwayireland.ie