150 seriously injured people waiting up to 6 months for rehab service

THERE are 150 people with serious spine and brain injuries who have been waiting up to six months to be admitted to a specialist rehabilitation facility, according to figures obtained by the Irish Examiner.

People injured in road accidents, in falls and through strokes are left in acute hospitals because they cannot access vital services at the Dún Laoghaire-based National Rehabilitation Hospital (NRH), the only facility of its kind in Ireland.

Of the 150 on the list, 16 are children, 56 are suffering from spinal injuries, 32 have acquired brain injuries, 18 suffered a stroke, 12 have such neurological conditions as motor neuron disease and 10 have lost a limb.

According to the NRH’s figures for 2008, patients admitted to the specialist hospital last year spent between two and four months receiving expert in-patient care before transferring to outpatient services.

The longest average length of stay in the hospital occurred in spinal cord injury patients, who spent an average of 111 days at the facility.

While patients are admitted from all parts of the country, the figures also show that most come from the Dublin region, with 52% of those seen in 2008 coming from the HSE Dublin Mid-Leinster and HSE Dublin North-East regions compared to 24% from the HSE South.

Last year, the NRH received planning permission to build a 235-bed hospital in Dún Laoghaire.

The €200m hospital, expected to be built by the end of 2012, would almost double capacity at the facility, significantly reducing patient waits.

Labour spokeswoman Jan O’Sullivan said while the Government is focused on saving money, the waiting list figures highlighted the need to ensure that the new facility is not allowed to be “mothballed” due to financial constraints.

“That is one capital project that must not be allowed to slip down the list. The capacity at the NRH is already way below what’s required because it is so vital to get people in as early as possible. It is heartbreaking for people in a position where they can’t access care,” she said.

Since the NRH opened in 1961, it has helped provide care to 35,000 in-patients and 250,000 outpatients countrywide.