News
Stroke machine breathes new life into Portiuncula’s services
The installation of a state-of-the-art telemedicine machine at Portiuncula – which will allow doctors at other hospitals to make life-saving diagnoses – has been hailed as the start of a 24/7 stroke service at the hospital.
Seven of the ‘TRASNA’ machines were purchased nationally by the HSE in 2012, but had been sitting in a storage facility in Cork.
However, last week, managers in the Saolta group – which handles the administration of hospitals in Galway – confirmed that one of the machines has finally been delivered to Portiuncula.
The machine will allow patients at Portiuncula talk with the specialist at the other end of the line – who will also have access to the patient’s entire file, including scans – and allow immediate decision-making, thus saving lives.
For some types of stroke caused by a blood clot, a ‘clot-busting’ drug is seen as the best option to stop more damage to the brain. This is administered by injection in a treatment called thrombolysis.
It can only be given within four-and-a half-hours of stroke symptoms starting. About 10% of people treated with thrombolysis will make a good recovery and if given within two hours, the recovery rate is even better.
The TRASNA machine will allow for complex decision-making – such a thrombolysis treatment – to take place, even if no specialist is physically in Portiuncula. Independent TD Denis Naughten told the Connacht Tribune: “For the first time ever, it will ensure that the hospital has a 24 hour a day, seven day a week emergency stroke service.
“Over the past two years, I’ve been lobbying and publically pressing Government and the HSE for the installation of one of these machines at Portiuncula.
“The importance of this machine to the hospital cannot be underestimated, particularly since the loss of our stroke consultant at the hospital in March 2013.
“Since then, the hospital has unsuccessfully tried to recruit a new consultant, with the post even offered to a candidate last summer.
“The lack of such a service in Portiuncula means that someone diagnosed with a stroke within four hours of its onset must be transferred to Galway, 40 minutes away.
“And for every minute that treatment is delayed, a stroke patient loses two million brain cells. This could result in local patients losing 80m brain cells while they travel in the ambulance between Ballinasloe and Galway, and then spending longer in hospital and they are also more likely to require long-term nursing home care,” said Deputy Naughten.
He said that every second day, one person within the catchment of Portiuncula suffers a stroke, and that it is the third biggest cause of death and disability in the world today.
“We now need to link the machines up with Galway University Hospitals’ stroke team and in tandem with that train the staff in Portiuncula to administer the thrombolysis treatment after diagnosis.
“But this is a major step forward and I want to acknowledge the work done by Chris Kane and her team in Portiuncula and also that of Minister Varadkar,” said the Deputy.
At the moment, Portiuncula has a very successful stroke rehabilitation unit, with a team of nurses and therapists providing focused support for those in recovery.
“Not only does the installation of this state of the art machine allow for the development of a 24/7 emergency stroke thrombolysis service, but in the UK, hospitals have expanded the use of these machines to fast-track treatment for burns, orthopaedics and neurology patients.
“With the strong history of Portiuncula building up links with other hospitals, hopefully these machines can be used to reduce the need to transfer many more patients to other hospitals,” Deputy Naughten said.
Significant state investment is required to address ‘shocking’ inequalities that leave cancer patients in the West at greater risk of succumbing to the disease.
A meeting of Regional Health Forum West heard that survival rates for breast, lung and colorectal cancers than the national average, and with the most deprived quintile of the population, the West’s residents faced poorer outcomes from a cancer diagnosis.
For breast cancer patients, the five-year survival rate was 80% in the West versus 85% nationally; for lung cancer patients it was 16.7% in the west against a 19.5% national survival rate; and in the West’s colorectal cancer patients, there was a 62.6% survival rate where the national average was 63.1%.
These startling statistics were provided in answer to a question from Ballinasloe-based Cllr Evelyn Parsons (Ind) who said it was yet another reminder that cancer treatment infrastructure in the West was in dire need of improvement.
“The situation is pretty stark. In the Western Regional Health Forum area, we have the highest incidence of deprivation and the highest health inequalities because of that – we have the highest incidences of cancer nationally because of that,” said Cllr Parsons, who is also a general practitioner.
In details provided by CEO of Saolta Health Care Group, which operates Galway’s hospitals, it was stated that a number of factors were impacting on patient outcomes.
Get the full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune, on sale in shops now, or you can download the digital edition from www.connachttribune.ie. You can also download our Connacht Tribune App from Apple’s App Store or get the Android Version from Google Play.
On the eve of completing his 150th marathon, an odyssey that has taken him across 53 countries, Loughrea’s Marathon Man has announced that he is planning to hang up his running shoes.
But not before Jarlath Fitzgerald completes another ten races, making it 160 marathons on the occasion of his 60th birthday.
“I want to draw the line in 2026. I turn 57 in October and when I reach 60 it’s the finishing line. The longer races are taking it out of me. I did 20 miles there two weeks ago and didn’t feel good. It’s getting harder,” he reveals.
“I’ve arthritis in both hips and there’s wear and tear in the knees.”
We speak as he is about to head out for a run before his shift in Supervalu Loughrea. Despite his physical complaints, he still clocks up 30 miles every second week and generally runs four days a week.
Jarlath receives injections to his left hip to keep the pain at bay while running on the road.
To give his joints a break, during the winter he runs cross country and often does a five-mile trek around Kylebrack Wood.
He is planning on running his 150th marathon in Cork on June 4, where a group of 20 made up of work colleagues, friends and running mates from Loughrea Athletics Club will join him.
Some are doing the 10k, others are doing the half marathon, but all will be there on the finishing line to cheer him on in the phenomenal achievement.
Get the full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune, on sale in shops now, or you can download the digital edition from www.connachttribune.ie. You can also download our Connacht Tribune App from Apple’s App Store or get the Android Version from Google Play.
From the Galway City Tribune – An impassioned plea for a ‘masterplan’ that would guide Galway City into the future has been made in the Dáil. Galway West TD Catherine Connolly stated this week that there needed to be an all-inclusive approach with “vision and leadership” in order to build a sustainable city.
Deputy Connolly spoke at length at the crisis surrounding traffic and housing in Galway city and said that not all of the blame could be laid at the door of the local authority.
She said that her preference would be the provision of light rail as the main form of public transport, but that this would have to be driven by the government.
“I sat on the local council for 17 years and despaired at all of the solutions going down one road, metaphorically and literally. In 2005 we put Park & Ride into the development plan, but that has not been rolled out. A 2016 transport strategy was outdated at the time and still has not been updated.
“Due to the housing crisis in the city, a task force was set up in 2019. Not a single report or analysis has been published on the cause of the crisis,” added Deputy Connolly.
She then referred to a report from the Land Development Agency (LDA) that identified lands suitable for the provision of housing. But she said that two-thirds of these had significant problems and a large portion was in Merlin Park University Hospital which, she said, would never have housing built on it.
In response, Minister Simon Harris spoke of the continuing job investment in the city and also in higher education, which is his portfolio.
But turning his attention to traffic congestion, he accepted that there were “real issues” when it came to transport, mobility and accessibility around Galway.
“We share the view that we need a Park & Ride facility and I understand there are also Bus Connects plans.
“I also suggest that the City Council reflect on her comments. I am proud to be in a Government that is providing unparalleled levels of investment to local authorities and unparalleled opportunities for local authorities to draw down,” he said.
Then Minister Harris referred to the controversial Galway City Outer Ring Road which he said was “struck down by An Bord Pleanála”, despite a lot of energy having been put into that project.
However, Deputy Connolly picked up on this and pointed out that An Bord Pleanála did not say ‘No’ to the ring road.
“The High Court said ‘No’ to the ring road because An Bord Pleanála acknowledged it failed utterly to consider climate change and our climate change obligations.
“That tells us something about An Bord Pleanála and the management that submitted such a plan.”
In the end, Minister Harris agreed that there needed to be a masterplan for Galway City.
“I suggest it is for the local authority to come up with a vision and then work with the Government to try to fund and implement that.”
Families queue up for school’s offer of free house
West has lower cancer survival rates than rest
Galway minors continue to lay waste to all opponents
Gardaí and IFA issue a joint appeal on summer road safety
Marathon Man plans to call a halt – but not before he hits 160 races
