Paudge Connolly (Cavan-Monaghan, Independent)
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Question 119: To ask the Minister for Health and Children if she will undertake a review of stroke services here as recommended in the Government's Cardiovascular Strategy seven years ago; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [35014/06]

Seán Power (Kildare South, Fianna Fail)
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In 2005, the Minister for Health and Children met with the Irish Heart Foundation to discuss inter alia services for patients with stroke. Following that meeting, the Foundation, with the support of a grant of €70,000 from my Department, convened a National Stroke Review Group (NSRG). The NSRG has representatives from the HSE (population health) and from a wide range of relevant professional and voluntary organisations (community health nurses, speech therapists, volunteer scheme etc.) The Group developed a comprehensive research proposal over a period of nine months based on methods used for an audit of hospital and community services in the UK.

The project involves six separate surveys:

hospital organisational audits;

community-based surveys of GPs;

allied healthcare practitioners (AHPs);

hospital clinical audits;

patients and carers;

nursing homes.

The entire study is scheduled to take 18 months to complete and will provide an important advance in quantifying the preparedness of Irish hospitals for modern stroke treatment, as well as providing a nationwide profile of community stroke services in the Republic of Ireland. The final reports from the hospital organisational audit and GP survey were delivered on schedule on 1 September 2006 and the final report of the survey of allied health professionals is due to be delivered on schedule on 1 December 2006. The three other elements of the study, patients and carers, hospital clinical audits and nursing homes, are currently on schedule with final reports due on 1 September 2007. The NSRG will monitor progress of the research and use the findings to make recommendations on the development of stroke services. The Department and the Health Service Executive will consider policy implications in the light of this national service audit.