Sir, – The increase in waiting times for vital rehabilitation, as detailed in Kitty Holland's "Man awaiting hospital discharge for over four months" (March 30th), confirms the long-term under-resourcing of these services for people following acquired brain injury. The delays in the increased capacity at the National Rehabilitation Hospital (NRH) have a knock-on effect not only on the acute hospitals, which cannot discharge patients and free bed capacity for more acute cases, but also on families who are put under untold stress, having to cope without access to the vital and timely input that is so important in the early aftermath of injury.
The new hospital wing at the NRH will relieve some of the pressure on hospitals, but it won’t address the long-term needs of people who leave the hospital system with ongoing disabilities, often hidden, that prevent them from participating in everyday life. People with brain injury leave hospital still unable to return to work, unable to drive, unable to participate in their own communities.
Headway, which acts as life line to people with brain injuries in the community, is also seeing an considerable increase in its own waiting lists, showing the need for and the importance of long-term community supports for people following stroke, head injury or other acquired brain injury.
Headway’s community services, which includes psychological support, when required, make a real difference in people’s lives, sometimes long after their injury. What we are seeing here is a consequence of the failure to develop neuro-rehabilitation services in line with the government’s own strategy.
The “Strategy for the Provision of Neuro-Rehabilitation Services in Ireland” plan was launched in 2011 to last until 2015. But an implementation plan for the development of services in line with the strategy is only now under debate. Until we have a co-ordinated and joined-up approach to develop services, with some real resources to underpin them, we are likely to see similar stories emerge in the coming months. – Yours, etc,
KIERAN LOUGHRAN,
Chief Executive,
Headway,Dublin 7.