Community neurorehabilitation rollout
Deputy O’Sullivan again raised the need for community neurorehabilitation services nationwide after meeting advocates. The Minister confirmed the 23 posts were sanctioned, outlined the planned CHO coverage and said he would return with hiring timelines.
At the risk of making the Minister for Health repeat himself, I also want to ask about community neurorehabilitation. The Neurological Alliance of Ireland, NAI, and a number of clinical leads in stroke, neurology, dementia care and neurorehabilitation have just spent the past hour and a half in the audiovisual room advocating for community neurorehabilitation. They did so because of the proven benefits the latter has for people who are recovering from brain injury or stroke and for the benefits it has for the patients with Parkinson's disease or multiple sclerosis. The Minister kindly gave of his time this morning to meet me and representatives of the NAI. He is fully behind the model of care in the community in respect of neurological issues. When will community neurological care be rolled out into the other health regions throughout Ireland? Funding has been sanctioned for the appointment in the Cork area of three advanced nurses specialising in Parkinson's and Huntington's. When will these positions be filled?
Comment on this
I acknowledge the ongoing advocacy of the Deputy and others in respect of this work. The 23 posts have been sanctioned, so the HSE is hiring people. I will revert to the Deputy with an expected timeline. As already stated, the team for CHO 4 will be based at the major trauma centre in CUH. As well as the team going into CHO 2, a further two community rehabilitation teams will be going into CHOs 6 and 7. These will be based in the Bray Civic Centre and the Peamount Healthcare Centre. When these teams are all in place, we will have full national coverage. In the context of the expected hiring dates and the service being available to people in Cork, I will revert to the Deputy.