Patients Deserve Better
Patients Deserve Better: Community Neurorehabilitation
The Neurological Alliance of Ireland (NAI)'s new Patients Deserve Better campaign calling for community neurorehabilitation teams to be put in place nationwide launched on November 28th, 2022. Only 15% of neurological patients in Ireland have access to a community neurorehabilitation team.
The National Neurorehabilitation Strategy states that 9 teams are required but only 2 have been delivered.
Throughout this December we’re joining with NAI and 21 other organisations as part of the #patientsdeservebetter campaign to call for a local community neurorehabilitation team for CHO 6.
There is no team for adults with neurological conditions throughout Wicklow, Dun Laoghaire and Dublin South East, this is despite funding being in place since 2020.
Take action now. Contact your local TDs by visiting www.patientsdeservebetter.ie and join the conversation at #patientsdeservebetter
Patients Deserve Better: Specialist Nurses for Neurology
The Neurological Alliance of Ireland launched their #PatientsDeserveBetter campaign to call for more specialist nurses across neurology services on 4th October 2021
HDAI, together with other groups, has been working with the Neurological Alliance of Ireland as part of their "Patients Deserve Better" campaign to call for action to tackle the shortage of one hundred specialist nurses in neurology services.
The campaign is calling for 20 additional nurses each year over the next five years to tackle this shortfall.
A very successful pre budget campaign led to 23 additional nurses being announced in this years Budget. Minister Rabbitte has announced that these additional nurses will cover neurological conditions including Huntington’s disease, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease, epilepsy and rare neurological conditions and will be assigned by the National Clinical Programme in Neurology all across Ireland in response to local needs.
Mags Rogers, Executive Director of the Neurological Alliance of Ireland has highlighted the key role of collective patient advocacy in this campaign "Over 11,000 e mails have been sent to TD's via the campaign website patientsdeservebetter.ie since the NAI lead campaign was launched in October 2021. This is an example of how organisations representing people with neurological conditions can work together with these individuals and their families to achieve real change".
Nurse specialists play a crucial role in supporting people with neurological conditions. Increasing the number of neurology nurses will ensure that people with neurological conditions have improved access to healthcare supports and reduce the time they are waiting for appointments.
HDAI participated in the campaign to highlight the need for Huntington’s Disease specialist nurses. To date there are no HD specialist nurses in neurology services in Ireland.
The campaign brought a focus to regional neurology services. You can learn how to support the campaign and see more information at: https://www.patientsdeservebetter.ie
