Thousands of people under 65 who need rehabilitation services following stroke are not getting the care they need from the National Rehabilitation Hospital in Dun Laoghaire, partly because of limited space and partly because they are not referred there.
The rehabilitation consultant who specialises in stroke care at the hospital, Dr Aine Carroll, said there were around 3,000 people under 65 who had a stroke last year, but only 119 were admitted to the hospital.
“We’re Ireland’s only rehabilitation hospital and provide the only stroke service for people under 65,” she said. Dr Carroll said the number of strokes in under-65s was increasing.
The average waiting time to start rehabilitation at the hospital is three months, but patients with acquired brain injuries need to start the process immediately.
The hospital last week submitted planning application for a new, 235-bed, 44,000 square-metre National Rehabilitation Hospital worth about €200 million.
Dr Carroll told IMT that work continues on a National Rehabilitation Medicine Strategy — which will recommend a hub-and-spoke network based out of the new tertiary centre. But the strategy has to be financially and politically supported, she stressed.
If approved, and if there are no unexpected delays, the redevelopment will be completed by 2013, according to a hospital spokesman.
About Gary Culliton
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