'Large gaps' in care forcing road collision survivors to seek rehabilitation abroad
Survivors of road collisions are going abroad for vital rehabilitation to avoid waiting lists of up to 10 months, as doctors call for urgent investment in rehab services here.
The Government has been urged to treat road injuries as “a major public health issue” amid concerns that survivors are not receiving the treatment they require.
“If I got a brain injury in the morning from a road traffic collision, I’d wait for five months inside Cork University Hospital until I got access to the National Rehabilitation Hospital," one consultant told the
The Irish Association of Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine (IAPRM) said thousands of people each year survive road traffic collisions, but they are left with life-changing injuries that require specialist care.
Dr John MacFarlane, the association's president and a consultant in rehabilitation medicine at Cork University Hospital and Mercy University Hospital, said patients are grappling with “large gaps” in care.
In addition to delays in brain injury care, spinal cord patients can wait two to three months to access the National Rehabilitation Hospital in Dublin.
“Patients are awaiting rehabilitation, sitting in acute hospital beds, and not getting the optimum treatment,” Dr MacFarlene said.
The National Rehabilitation Hospital is the only HSE centre providing the top level of specialist care, which means patients from Kerry to Donegal essentially compete for its beds.
