BOTH PRIVATE and public patients must wait up to 18 months before being seen by a consultant neurologist, a review of neurology services has found.
It also found that patients being assessed on an outpatient basis have to wait 10 months for an MRI scan and 90 days for an EEG test of the brain.
According to the report of the strategic review group on neurology services, which has been seen by The Irish Times, “long waiting lists for access to neurological services are common and a concern”.
The report, commissioned by the Health Service Executive and drawn up by senior HSE managers, consultants, nurses, allied health professionals, GPs and patient advocates, found that inpatients may have to wait up to two weeks to see a therapist or a psychologist, “thereby prolonging their length of hospital stay”.
“Outpatient services were considerably less accessible with many patients waiting between three to six months for a minimal service and in some cases, no service at all,” it states.
The report, which took two years to research and complete under the chairmanship of the then assistant national director of strategic health planning with the HSE, Dr Marie Laffoy, deals with conditions such as dementia, epilepsy, multiple sclerosis and acquired brain injury.
Despite some recent investment, it paints a bleak picture for patients seeking diagnosis and treatment of potentially life threatening conditions.
A consultant neurologist quoted in the report says: “I am aware that some patients travel to other countries to see a neurologist because of the delays here – I know of one patient who was seen in Stuttgart and another who went to Scotland.”
The review, which is effectively a strategy for neurological disease in the Republic, recommends the establishment of four regional neurology networks. It calls for designated, ring-fenced funding for neurology services. And it recommends all new specialist appointments are made to the network rather than a specific hospital or institution. “A greater focus should be placed in enabling ambulatory day care and in providing care as close as possible to the patient/family,” it adds.
On staffing, the report calls for one consultant neurologist for every 100,000 people, a total of 42 posts nationally. It says three allied health professionals as well as specialist nurses must be appointed for each neurologist.
It recommends that a number of physiotherapists, occupational therapists and speech therapists, who work in hospitals, be moved to community services.
The review group also recommends the setting up of a national neurology biobank and the establishment of a deep brain stimulation programme to treat patients with movement disorders.
The HSE says funding of €3 million was provided in 2006 for the development of neurology and neurophysiology services, and that there are 24 approved posts of consultant neurologist, an increase of 10 since 2003.