Additional support needed for stroke service at UHW

Increased funding from government is urgently needed for stroke services at University Hospital Waterford.

This is according to Matt Shanahan, who says that a lack of beds for stroke patients has led to some patients being treated in non-stroke wards in the hospital.

UHW currently has five Acute Specialist Stroke Unit (ASU) beds.

Mr. Shanahan told the Waterford News & Star that government need to address the shortfall.

“We need additional beds in the stroke unit and we need it to be built on par with the other model four hospitals in the country.

“Strokes are acute and usually severe and firstly patients need to get scanned, ideally in a dedicated stroke unit. Waterford has a stroke unit, but they have limited scanning for stroke. They can do a certain amount, but they only have five inpatient beds."

Mr. Shanahan commented that government has not provided funding to increase beds or allocation of staff, leading to increased pressures.

“We cannot get an increase to the bed number or to the allocation of staff, which means that only three quarters of the stroke cases coming into Waterford actually get into the stroke unit. The rest are put into wards around the hospital and the doctors and nurses who deal with stroke have to go and find them and get them care.

“If you’re in the stroke unit you have all the apparatus there ready to you, but if you have to go find somebody, you have to wheel equipment to them and find them a bed.

He added: “We have significant issues with heart attack and stroke in the south east, and why? Because we have an older population, a lot of disadvantage in the region, we have a high level of obesity and diabetes, so we need these services here and the problem is we can’t get them funded.

 “There must be something done."