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.