Derek Keating (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for the opportunity to speak on the issue of rehabilitative care for persons with an acquired brain injury in Ireland, and I thank the Minister of State for being present. Due to the advances in medicine and technology, brain injury survival rates in this country have improved. Advanced imaging and surgical techniques mean that early intervention can lead to long-term survival for persons with acquired brain injury. However, they are often saved and then left, because access to, availability, and funding of rehabilitation services have not matched medical and technological advances.

Persons who acquire a brain injury frequently occupy a bed in an acute hospital for a protracted period of time and might move from there to a nursing home setting, or home, if they are lucky enough to have support in the family. Persons with an acquired brain injury in many cases cannot access services and rehabilitation on their own behalf. As a result, they often are left with a lack of rehabilitation opportunities and remain in inappropriate settings.

At this point, I will discuss the case of Sara Walsh Delaney, who entered hospital for a biopsy for a benign brain tumour in October 2011, three months after her marriage at the age of 28. She suffered a massive brain haemorrhage, could not be roused from a coma and ended up bed-bound in Beaumont Hospital for two years and three months. Her mother, Mary, her father, Martin, and her sister, Niamh, fought for her to have access to treatment when the powers that be saw her as a problem and wanted her to be moved to a nursing home to free up a bed. Sean O'Rourke of RTE championed her cause, and my colleague Deputy Finian McGrath asked questions in this House on Sara's behalf.

Sara was taken to the National Rehabilitation Hospital, NRH, in August 2014, was treated there for a period and then returned to Beaumont Hospital. Later, in December 2014, Sara, then 31, went to the Royal Hospital Donnybrook, in the ward for young patients under 65, under the Fair Deal scheme. Sara's family and friends engaged in extensive fundraising that meant she could travel to Germany for six weeks of intensive rehabilitation. Once there, she made great progress. After her return in April to the Royal Hospital Donnybrook, however, Sara regressed because she was entitled to only two hours of therapy per week.

A further scan a number of weeks ago showed the benign tumour to be growing, and Sara was transferred to St. Francis Hospice in Blanchardstown, where, sadly, she died on 17 June, a few short months after her 32nd birthday.

I mention Sara's case because it highlights the lacuna in the health services in Ireland. There is no golden ticket that fast-tracks treatment, as long-term care and rehabilitation is specifically excluded from health insurance policies by all providers. For persons with disorders of consciousness for which 24-hour care is needed, there are three beds in the country. Rehabilitation cannot be accessed or paid for in Ireland except through the HSE, and a person with an acquired brain injury cannot bring his or her own physiotherapist into a long-stay hospital in Ireland.

This evening I make the case that we need to urgently review the position with regard to the National Policy and Strategy for the Provision of Neuro-Rehabilitation Services in Ireland 2011-2015.

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