STROKE survivors, including from Cork, have attended an Oireachtas briefing in Leinster House to talk about the lack of rehabilitation services.
Stroke campaigners and survivors, Noel McLoughlin (Tallaght), Brendan Kelly (Clare) and Michael Smithers (Cork) pictured at last week’s Oireachtas briefing in Leinster House ahead of World Stroke Day.
On behalf of 50,000 stroke survivors in Ireland, Cork’s Michael Smithers, from Ballinlough, joined with others from around the country to meet their local TDs and highlight the need for better rehabilitation services.
The information session was organised by the Irish Heart Foundation, with the support of Medtronic, one of the world’s largest medical technology companies, ahead of World Stroke Day.
A study launched on the day, conducted by the Irish Heart Foundation and the HSE’s National Stroke Programme, showed large gaps in vital recovery services for stroke patients around the country, with just one in four rehabilitation hospitals having a dedicated stroke unit; with 60% lacking a stroke specialist to oversee rehabilitation; and with less than one in three having any access to psychological services.
The audit also showed major organisational deficits across the rehabilitation hospital network.
For example, half of the hospitals couldn’t provide accurate information on the numbers of stroke patients they had admitted or discharged in the previous year, whilst bed access was restricted, based on age, in 12 of the 26 hospitals audited.
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