Others have referred to this as the upcoming tsunami of stroke.
http://www.irishtimes.com/news/health/ireland-s-stroke-rate-could-increase-59-by-2035-1.3080300
Irish Heart Foundation says acute services already less effective and more expensive
Chris
Macey from the Irish Heart Foundation said: “We have to act now or the
surging stroke rate will not just overwhelm our stroke units.”
The
Irish Heart Foundation called for an urgent overhaul of how stroke
services are resourced after a European study showed the death rate from
stroke in Ireland will increase by 84 per cent in less than 20 years.
The Burden of Stroke in Europe
report launched in the European Parliament in Brussels on Thursday by
the Stroke Alliance for Europe also predicts the incidence of stroke in
Ireland will increase by 59 per cent by 2035.
Irish Heart Foundation head of
advocacy Chris Macey said acute stroke services were already becoming
less effective and more expensive because stroke units could not cope
with the number of strokes Irish people were having.
“We have to act now or the surging
stroke rate will not just overwhelm our stroke units, there will also
be a huge spill over into all acute services that will affect all
patients using emergency services,” said Mr Macey.
“We don’t need extra money to fix
things – we just need to invest in treatment and care that has been
proved to save lives and money so we don’t have to send so many patients
unnecessarily to expensive nursing home care.”
The latest statistics show that
long-term care costs rose by €17.3 million in 2015 due to an increase in
nursing home discharges – which could have paid for up to 1.6 million
hours of homecare.
“If the HSE spent €15 million a
year on providing the 200 extra therapists required to staff stroke
units properly, these cost reductions would be restored and stroke
services could gear up to deal with the accelerating upsurge of strokes
facing our hospital system,” he said.
Clot retrieval
Other measures proven to be cost
effective include the development of clot retrieval
thrombectomyservices, which have been deemed cost effective in a Hiqa
health technology assessment; the roll out of early supported discharge
programmes whereby stroke patients receive vital therapy at home rather
than in hospital; and increasing access to homecare for stroke
survivors.
“These measures are largely
deliverable within the funding restrictions imposed on the health
services. Many are considered to be basic standards of care in other
countries. Together they can significantly reduce preventable death and
disability without any increase in overall costs,” said Mr Macey.
Three out of four of the country’s
rehabilitation hospitals said they were unable to provide stroke
patients with the recommended level of therapy they need, according to a
HSE audit carried out last year.
Just one in four has a dedicated
stroke unit and 60 per cent lack a stroke specialist to oversee
rehabilitation. Less than one in three units has access to psychological
services.
In addition, the vast majority of
the 26 hospitals that took part in the study have no access to community
rehabilitation teams to continue therapy that is essential to assist
recovery for patients after they are discharged home.
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