Denis Naughton TD outside Portiuncula Hospital Ballinasloe.
“Portiuncula & Mayo General Hospitals have taken delivery of a new telemedicine stroke machines which will for the first time ever ensure that the hospitals have one of the best possible emergency stroke services in the world,” stated Denis Naughten.
“The new Teledoc (TRASNA) stroke machines are 2 of seven which until recently were in storage in Cork waiting to be rolled out to hospitals throughout the country”
Over the last two years Denis Naughten has been lobbying and publicly pressing both Government and the HSE for the installation of these machines in hospitals without a full emergency stroke service and this machine will now link the hospital with the top stroke experts in the country.
“The importance of this machine to hospitals like Ballinasloe & Castlebar cannot be underestimated, because if someone diagnosed with a stroke within 4 hours of its onset and cannot be treated in Castlebar, they must be transferred to Galway, 1 hour & 20 minutes away or in the case of Ballinasloe 40 minutes away.
“And for every minute that treatment is delayed, a victim loses two million brain cells. This results in local patients losing brain function while they travel in the ambulance to Galway and as a result spending longer in hospital. They are also more likely to require long term nursing home care.”
Denis Naughten pointed out that every day, one person within the catchment of both hospitals suffers a stroke and it is the third biggest cause of death and disability in the world today with survival rates and recovery rates dependent on how quickly the patient receives the appropriate treatment.
“When I raised this issue with the Taoiseach in the Dáil in 2013 he said that ‘it is in the interests of patients that, once acquired, such machines should be used’,” outlined Denis Naughten. “Last November I raised the issue directly with Minister Varadkar in the Dáil and as a result he gave me a commitment to follow through on the issue.
“I’m glad that due to the intervention of An Taoiseach & the Minister for Health that these machines are now being rolled out nationally”.
“The arrival of the telemedicine stroke machine is the first phase of the delivery of this project. I understand that staff are about to commence training on the machines and on the completion of that training, I hope that the machine will be linked up with Galway University Hospital’s stroke team”.
“However, getting the machine into Mayo General is a major step forward and I want to publicly acknowledge the work done by An Taoiseach & Minister Varadkar in having these machines installed in a number of hospitals throughout the Country.”
He added: “Not only can these machines provide a life saving emergency stroke service, but I understand that some of the hospitals are looking to expand the use of the machines to fast track treatment of patients in intensive care as well as for burns, orthopaedics and neurology patients.
“With the establishment of the Saolta Hospital Group, it is hoped that these machines can be used to reduce the need to transfer many more patients from Ballinasloe & Castlebar to other hospitals,” concluded Denis Naughten.