Cork patients having to travel 200km to see neurologists

NEUROLOGY patients in Cork are embarking on roundtrips of up to 200km to see their neurologists, according to the Neurological Alliance of Ireland (NAI).

NAI and Roche Products (Ireland) Ltd recently launched their The Patient Deserves Better campaign, seeking commitments from elected representatives and the HSE to provide outpatient consultant neurology services at Bantry General Hospital (BGH) to shorten the journeys for patients receiving treatment.

Bantry General Hospital currently provides some clinics for neurological patients but the NAI is calling for the service to be protected by appointing a consultant neurologist at the hospital.

Speakers at the online launch last Tuesday included patient representative Ruth O’Brien from Glengarriff; the executive director of Neurological Alliance of Ireland Magdalen Rogers; and consultant neurologist at Cork University Hospital (CUH) Professor Aisling Ryan.

Describing her experience, patient representative Ruth O’Brien, who is living with multiple sclerosis, travels every six months to CUH for her infusions which she said requires a full day of annual leave from work as the treatment itself takes five hours on top of a 90-minute drive each way.

“If I was able to attend an outpatient neurology clinic in Bantry General Hospital this would greatly reduce the amount of time I spend travelling,” she said. 

“With my MS, one of my symptoms is fatigue and the trip to CUH has a huge impact on my wellbeing in the days and weeks following the journey.”

NAI executive director Magdalen Rogers called on elected representatives in Cork and the HSE to commit to delivering these services.

“Access to a consultant neurologist should not depend on where you live, yet people with chronic long-term neurological conditions are regularly travelling between 60km to 112km to see their neurologist,” she said.