Study: Serious brain injury patients failed by HSE
A damning study to be published by the Neurological Alliance of Ireland (NAI) today has warned that, despite promises of reform, vulnerable members of society are being repeatedly failed by the health service.
According to the landmark report by the national umbrella group for more than 30 charities working in the field, the number of consultant neurologists employed in Ireland is now officially the worst in Europe.
Currently, just 23 doctors working in the specialist field in this country are treating 700,000 patients, a ratio which is almost half the 42 needed to meet European norms of one consultant per 100,000 people.
The Irish figure is also significantly less than the number of specialists in supposedly economically poorer countries like Croatia (5 per 100,000), Turkey (2 per 100,000) and Hungary (2 per 100,000).
In addition, just one full-time specialist facility to address neurological conditions (the National Rehabilitation Hospital in Dun Laoghaire) is available in Ireland, leaving thousands of patients facing lengthy journeys to receive treatment.
As a result, patients are being forced to wait up to three years for routine outpatient appointments in the North-West, two years in the Mid-West and two years in Cork and Kerry for expert services they need to control their conditions.
“While there has been some investment in recent years, we are nowhere near the standard of care routinely available in other countries,” warned Anne Winslow, chairperson of the NAI and chief executive of Multiple Sclerosis Ireland.
“Neurological conditions account for one in five emergency department admissions and one in eight visits to a GP, yet we continue to have no national plan for our health service to deal with these conditions,” she said.
Writing in the foreword to the vital report, Health Minister Mary Harney acknowledged the World Health Organisation (WHO) now considers neurological conditions to be among the most pressing health issue in Europe.
However, despite promising reforms, both the minister and the HSE have failed to act on previous concerns about the gaps in the vital service.
In 2007, the HSE completed a comprehensive review of neurological services in Ireland, including a number of key recommendations on the staff and facility issues.
However, despite the review focussing on the need to reform the service, it has never been published, with the exact recommendations and the financial cost involved failing to be made public.
A similar report by the Department of Health, called the National Neuro-Rehabilitation Strategy, is due to be published before the end of this year.
However, to date the department has failed to give an exact deadline for when its conclusions will be released.
Due to the pressing issues, which are continuing to affect 700,000 people, with a further 160,000 set to develop neurological conditions over the next 10 years, the NAI has set up the Vote For Thinking Ahead campaign.
The strategy, which members of the public can show their support for by signing an online petition at www.nai.ie, is calling on the HSE immediately to address unresolved issues in the vital speciality.
