Kathleen Lynch (Cork North Central, Labour)

There is no need for an action plan to come up with these self-evident conclusions. To persist in an elusive quest for an all-embracing strategy rather than taking pragmatic steps to address current unmet needs is a compassionless bureaucratic approach that values process over outcome. Often, neurorehabilitation requires prolonged hospital admissions and-or repeated outpatient management. Reintegration into one's own environment and community is integral to the role of rehabilitation medicine and requires close links between the discharging hospital and the primary care team.

It defies logic to suggest that removing patients who have a combination of cognitive, emotional, behavioural and physical impairments to a location that is at least two hours from their homes, families and communities is in their interest.

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