Ireland highlights stroke care needs:
This article was originally published in Clinica
Executive Summary
The opening this week of the stroke unit at the Mater Misericordiae Hospital in Dublin, Ireland, was used to highlight the importance of centralising care in this specialism. Health minister Ivor Callely commented on this in relation to a national plan for modernising stroke care, currently being developed. It aims to identify existing shortfalls in the service and define how specialised acute care facilities can best be integrated with local services. "Organised care of stroke patients within a single unit has been shown to decrease death and disability by 25%," said Mr Callely. Stroke is the most common cause of neurological disability and the third most common cause of death in Ireland.