Stroke patients and rehabilitation services

Sir, – The Irish Heart Foundation very much welcomes the continuing fall in stroke mortality rates, which is a testament to the extraordinary commitment and skill of stroke teams countrywide in the face of severe funding deficits ("Good news for patients", Editorial, December 23rd).

More people than ever are returning home after stroke, but for many the chance of making the best possible recovery is being squandered by the failure to invest in vital rehabilitation services that can prevent the need for long-term care at a vastly higher cost to the health service, with younger people particularly falling off the radar in terms of services.

Approximately 8,000 people in Ireland are hospitalised due to stroke every year and about 2,000 of those who are hospitalised are of working age – a figure that has jumped by 26 per cent in seven years.

A survey of working-age stroke survivors (under-65s) found that while 88 per cent of them were in employment before their stroke, only 36 per cent got back to work afterwards, and 70 per cent had suffered a significant fall in income since their stroke.

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We hear from stroke survivors in our stroke support groups that though they feel thankful for the care they receive, many feel abandoned once they leave hospital suffering anxiety, depression and unemployment long after they have been discharged. While a reduction in the number of people dying from stroke is very welcome, the impact of this huge effort is not being maximised if there is no corresponding investment in community rehabilitation services.

The Irish Heart Foundation wants to see investment in staffing for stroke units and ground-breaking stroke treatments like thrombectomy to ensure that nobody who has a stroke in Ireland dies because services fail to meet minimum standards. In tandem we must develop rehabilitation services and community awareness to ensure that the recovery of patients is not squandered after so much skill and commitment is deployed to save their lives. – Yours, etc,

CHRIS MACEY,

Head of Advocacy,

Irish Heart Foundation,

Dublin 6.