Thousands of people with neurological conditions are experiencing extreme hardship because of a lack of services, the Neurological Alliance said yesterday.
The alliance of support groups and specialists called for the establishment of specialist teams to work with people with conditions such as Alzheimer's disease, brain injuries and Parkinson's disease.
Dr Orla Hardiman, consultant neurologist at Beaumont Hospital, said these multidisciplinary teams were almost non-existent in the Republic. "The absence of these services leads to extreme hardship and poor quality of life for those affected and for their carers," she said.
There are just 12 consultant neurologists in this State. The alliance has called for "at least 30", and believes progress would be made on this issue. But Dr Hardiman said it was essential that services were delivered strategically, "and not in an ad-hoc way where the hospital that shouts loudest, gets most".
She said there was a major shortfall in services for younger people with cognitive difficulties. Ms Anne-Marie Brady (33) is one such person, she noted. She suffered severe head and back injuries two years ago when she fell from a height of 35 ft.
She has spent the intervening time in Beaumont Hospital, the Mater Hospital and more recently, the National Rehabilitation Hospital (NRH) in Dún Laoghaire. Now she is in Gormanstown Nursing Home, in Meath. She received intensive therapy in Dún Laoghaire and was told that if she got the necessary help, she could be walking within two years.
But today she sits in a wheelchair in Gormanstown, having had just two sessions of physiotherapy in the Mater Hospital since she left the NRH. She has had no speech or occupational therapy since then. On Friday, she was told that her physiotherapy would stop because the therapist was leaving.
Ms Brady fears her condition is deteriorating every day. While the nursing home suits older people, it is not helping her needs, she says. "I shouldn't be here. There is nothing here to stimulate me, mentally or physically."
The nursing home is mainly occupied by older people, some with dementia problems.
Since the accident, she has had difficulties with concentrating, short-term memory and problem-solving. Neurophysiotherapy did improve her cognitive functions but now she feels she is slipping backwards.
Ms Brady has a 12-year-old daughter who is being cared for by her parents. Now she fears that unless she gets the necessary therapy, she will never be able to get back to her daughter and lead an independent life.
"I want my life back. I was a normal mother once but I'm wasting away here. You get great treatment in hospital but it seems that when you leave, you are on your own."
Speaking at the launch of the Neurological Alliance's third volume of Standards of Care yesterday, the Minister for Health, Mr Martin, said the Government planned to introduce an extra 600 day hospital beds with facilities for areas such as Parkinson's Disease, stroke prevention and heart failure.
