Calls for Government to fully fund community neurology teams

An alliance of more than 30 neurological organisations has called on the Government to deliver on long-promised community neurological rehabilitation teams across the country.

Currently just two partially-staffed teams are in place, despite promises to deliver nine teams under the 2019 Neurorehabilitation Strategy.

Today the Neurological Alliance of Ireland (NAI) met with TDs and Senators to prioritise the establishment of the teams, which help patients with a range of conditions including acquired brain injury, stroke, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease, spinal cord injuries, cerebellar ataxia, and Friedreich’s ataxia.

“Neurorehabilitation is a vital service to enable people with neurological conditions to live their day to day lives,” said NAI CEO Magdalen Rogers.

“We’re calling on the Government to announcement a commitment to funding four community neurorehabilitation teams in this year’s Budget.

“We want to see this commitment during their first 100 days in office, to send a clear signal they intend to deliver on the pledges within the Programme for Government to complete the national rollout of community neurorehabilitation teams, developing more specialist inpatient rehabilitation beds and implement community based multidisciplinary rehabilitation services in each HSE Regional Health Authority Area”.

The National Neurorehabilitation Strategy published in 2019 committed to delivering specialist community teams and long-term neurorehabilitation services across the country, as well as addressing the shortfall of 171 specialist inpatient neurorehabilitation beds.

Of the nine community neurorehabilitation teams the government committed to establishing, just two – in the northwest and midwest – have commenced. However, both teams are operating with fewer staff than planned. The northwest team has just three posts funded compared to the 12 that should be in place. The midwest has just seven posts currently, but plans are in place to increase this to 12 this year.

The Government has promised that four teams will be established in 2025, for Cork/Kerry, Galway, Wicklow/south Dublin  and west Dublin/Kildare.

Three teams planned for the midlands, north Dublin and the southeast have not received any funding to date. NAI is calling for funding in the upcoming Budget for these teams to be established and fully resourced, and for the northwest team to be adequately staffed.

Patient advocate and NAI board member, Eamon McPartlin from Leitrim, explained the importance of access to neurorehabilitation teams.

“I was diagnosed with Functional Neurological Disorder (FND) in 2021, although symptoms actually began to appear a lot earlier in my thirties,” he said.

“Even before I received my diagnoses, the condition led to me having to give up my work as an engineer and ultimately to my marriage ending and I know that from speaking to others, the consequences of living with a neurological condition can be even more difficult to deal with than the condition itself.

“Accessing multidisciplinary treatment including physiotherapy, psychology and occupational therapy through community neurorehabilitation teams, without having to travel huge distances is vital,” he added.

“It allows people living with a neurological condition to receive treatment locally without they or their family having to take significant time off work or spend lots of money on travelling and accommodation. For some depending on where they live in the country the community neurorehabilitation team may be their only option to access the services they urgently need to support them in living a better quality of life.”

Representatives at the briefing also heard from Bernadette Myler Driscoll, a patient advocate in the southeast, who highlighted the lack of funding for the community rehabilitation team in the area. Her mother has Lewy body dementia and Parkinson’s disease, while her husband was recently diagnosed with Alzheimer’s.

Bernadette organizes weekly social and physical activity meetups for people with neurological conditions and their carers, in Waterford and Kilkenny.

“My mother started running coffee mornings, chair yoga, and meditation events 20 years ago with my support,” she said. “Since she became unwell, I’ve continued them because social connection is vital.

“Many say the worst part of these conditions is loneliness as mobility, communication skills, and confidence decline. We rely on fundraising and volunteers with lived experience to keep these events running.

“With an ageing population and rising diagnoses, support cannot depend on volunteers alone. It must be structured, nationwide, and delivered through essential community teams.”