Stroke Unit Plans at early Stage

The Kerryman Newspaper
Brendan De Braun
Wednesday November 11 2009

Brun councillors Michael Healy-Rae and Brendan Griffin both called at last Thursday's Regional Health Forum meeting for the establishment of an urgently required stroke unit at Kerry General Hospital.

Anne-Marie Lanigan, Interim Assistant National Director with the HSE South, informed them that plans to develop a dedicated Acute Stroke Unit in Kerry are "in the early stage of discussion".

She outlined the facilities that are available to stroke victims at Kerry General Hospital, in a consultant led rehabilitation unit which is dedicated to those aged over 55 and offers co-ordinated care including assessment by a consultant geriatrician and his team along with dedicated physiotherapy, occupational therapy, speech and language therpay and dietician care.

Acute stroke patients are currently managed on the general medical wards under the care of the relevant consultant physician, Ms Lanigan said, while community based services are made available on a needs basis to post-stroke patients in the community.

She indicated that a number of national reports which are due to be published shortly will have an impact on the provision, if any, of further stroke services in the region.

Councillor Griffin said: "Unfortunately we're very disappointed that the plans for the facility for the dedicated stroke unit are said to be only at the very early stages." we would be caling for progress to be made on this, it's very, very urgently required; it's badly, badly needed for the people of Kerry."

Meanwhile, at the same meeting the HSE was unable to say exactly when Kerry will receive its one and only advanced paramedic team, currently being rolled out in Cork.

The pilot West Cork EMS five-man advanced paramedic team has been an overwhelming success in its first few weeks of operation, the Health Forum meeting heard, and it is planned to provide four teams in the South West region — one in West Cork, one in North Cork, one in Kerry and one in Cork city — to be launched in that order.

Professor Higgins indicated a starting date for North Cork of the first quarter of 2010 and for Kerry, shortly thereafter. "I hate being vague about everything, but that's the time frame we are working towards," he said.

The highly trained paramedics are educated for six years and qualify with an internationally recognised and externally validated higher diploma. They are in a position to carry out a range of interventions - from inserting lines and air tubes to administering strong pain medication that otherwise could not be carried out outside of a hospital.

The advanced paramedics have a direct telelink with CUH and are qualifed to decide what, if any, hospital services will be required. They can also, if necessary, travel with the paramedic ambulance staff to the hospital with seriously ill patients.