NEUROLOGICAL patients throughout the county are facing waiting times of up to six months, with some reporting never been able to access neurorehabilitation, Donegal representatives have heard.

At a pre-Budget event held in Dublin in recent days, Donegal Oireachtas members met with Neurological Alliance of Ireland (NAI), the national umbrella body for over 30 neurological organisations.

NAI members raised concerns about the government’s slow response on neurorehabilitation services, and how this is creating a “postcode lottery” and “exacerbating health inequalities for those most in need”.

Donegal representatives including Charles Ward TD, heard that gaps in neurorehabilitation services mean that a quarter of those surveyed for, ‘The Right Care in the Right Place: Access to Services for People with Neurological Conditions Across Ireland,’ report having never been able to access neurorehabilitation.

A staggering 78 per cent of survey respondents in the North West, which includes Donegal, reported that they were unable to access neurorehabilitation services in the past 12 months.

Magdalen Rogers, Executive Director of the NAI, welcomed the recommitment to deliver on promised neurorehabilitation services in the Programme for Government published this year. However, she says that the longer the government falls short on its responsibility to patients, the greater the inequalities experiences across the country.

Ms Rogers said: “The importance of community neurorehabilitation teams cannot be understated. The specialist service and care they deliver within the community for people with a wide range of neurological conditions is proven to reduce hospital stays by an average of three days per patient. These teams also play a critical role in avoiding further admissions to hospitals and long-term care.

“The current community neurorehabilitation team in the North West is only funded for 2.5 staff instead of the minimum 12 it should have. This is resulting in waiting times of up to six months for neurological patients throughout Donegal.”

The NAI is seeking funding to uplift of the North West community team from 2.5 to 12 staff in this year’s Budget.

Patient advocate and NAI board member, Eamon McPartlin is from the North West region. Eamon was diagnosed with Functional Neurological Disorder (FND) in 2021.

He explained the importance of access to neurorehabilitation teams: “For those living with a neurological condition, multidisciplinary treatment is so important including neurophysiotherapy, psychology and speech and language therapy – and for many they cannot receive this treatment locally, they’re having to travel huge distances to access the health care they need and are entitled to receive.

“When you consider the costs of that travel and accommodation, the significant time they and their family might need to take off work, the impact of that regional inequality grows and grows. I know that from speaking to others, the consequences of living with a neurological condition can be even more difficult to deal with than the condition itself.

“In many parts of the country, for those living with a neurological condition a community neurorehabilitation team may be their only option to access the services they urgently need to support them in living a better quality of life.”