David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for allowing me to raise this extremely important issue which is the need to open the stroke unit in Cork University Hospital. I have been following up progress on the CUH stroke unit for more than two years, since November 2011. During this time I have been in contact with Chris Macey of the Irish Heart Foundation. I am pleased that one of its representatives, Emma Jane Morrissey, is in the Public Gallery.

The HSE's 2012 national stroke programme provided for the opening of 28 dedicated stroke units in acute hospitals throughout the country to care for patients admitted through accident and emergency departments The aim is to have 90% of acute hospitals operating a stroke unit to cover 90% of all stroke admissions. I acknowledge the Minister is very dedicated to this project. A total of 27 of the 28 units have been open and operational for the past 12 to 18 months. The only unit not yet open is the unit in Cork University Hospital. It is only one of two locations in the country that has the potential to operate as a centre of excellence in stroke care. I understand that to date, a considerable amount of funding has been allocated approximately for the recruitment of additional staff for the stroke unit but it is still not in operation. Why is it not open and when will it be opened? I understand that the Mercy University Hospital was not allocated additional resources but despite this, its stroke unit has been open for two years. The Bantry hospital stroke unit was opened in 2009.

It is widely accepted that general access to properly staffed stroke units will not only greatly improve stroke outcomes but could cut by 20% to 25% the annual death toll in Ireland of more than 2,000 people. This is a life and death issue. Stroke units save money as well as lives. The development of stroke units will reduce the number of stroke survivors requiring nursing home care. Figures from the Irish Hear Foundation indicate that as much as €414 million out of an annual cost of stroke of €557 million is spent on nursing home care for stroke survivors. An ESRI report for the Irish Heart Foundation, The Cost of Stroke in Ireland, states that the wider availability of stroke units and thrombolysis can save at least an extra 750 people each year from death and lifelong dependency and disability, while also saving the health service an estimated €230 million over the next ten years.

Funding was allocated to the HSE for the CUH stroke unit under the 2012 national stroke programme. A stroke unit is essentially made up of people rather than equipment. It is a concentration of expertise that has a dramatic added impact on patient outcomes. Essential personnel include stroke consultants, specialist nurses, occupational therapists, physiotherapists, speech and language therapists, dietitians, social workers, and psychologists.

In 2011, the chief executive officer of the HSE spoke at the joint committee on health about the development of stroke units at Cork University Hospital, Mercy University Hospital Cork, St Vincent's University Hospital Dublin, Limerick Regional Hospital and Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, Drogheda. He said they would be completed by the first six months of 2012. We are still waiting for the CUH unit. When I raised the issue by way of parliamentary question in June 2013. I was advised by the HSE that upgrading work has been completed on ward 3A for some time. This ward will contain 11 beds for the stroke service, 13 neurology beds and a four bed epilepsy monitoring unit and video telemetry. The HSE has also advised in June, August and September this year that recruitment is under way for the necessary posts to staff the unit, and it was envisaged that the CUH stroke unit will be fully operational in the third quarter of 2013. It is still unopened.

I have continued to follow up the matter with the HSE since the summer and I understand that delays in opening the unit have been due to difficulties in the recruitment of staff, specifically additional nursing staff, despite an extensive recruitment campaign. I received a further communication from the HSE today advising me that a further series of interviews for nursing posts commenced yesterday and it is hoped that these will yield sufficient nurses to allow the unit to open in January or February 2014.

See this speech in context