Galway Advertiser 2005/2005_01_27/GA_2701_E1_017.pdf 

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January 27 2005

Galway Advertiser

N E W S 17

Health Minister offers `first ray of real hope' to campaigners for local brain surgery unit
BY MARY O'CONNOR A leading campaigner for a brain surgery unit in Galway - who has pledged $1 million to the fund says Health Minister Mary Harney's comments about the need for such a service here were the "first ray of real hope" that campaigners had got from the Government. American Pat O'Dwyer, the widow of lawyer Paul O'Dwyer who set up the O'Dwyer Cheshire Home in Bohola, Co Mayo in 1976, was speaking to the Galway Advertiser from her home in New York on Wednesday morning. Her comments came in the wake of the Tanaiste's visit to UCHG on Tuesday. Minister Harney stated that neurosurgery services should be provided at the west's biggest hospital if there was to be regional autonomy. She added that she was impressed by the presentation made by the Western Neurosurgery Campaign [the group campaigning for the service ] whom she met late last year. Ms O'Dwyer, who visits Galway regularly, says the minister's comments are "an honest estimate not only of the need for a neurosurgery service but of what the hospital must have to make it a truly regional centre of health excellence". "I'm just waiting for the call to start the fundraising," she says. "I'm ready to go. I'm more hopeful now than I've ever been. It's an honest hope. The Minister for Health does not trifle with words or emotions." Ms O'Dwyer was one of a six person deputation from the WNC who had a one hour meeting with Minister Harney in Dublin in late November. "I am deeply deeply grateful to the minister for that meeting which we regarded as being very successful. Everyone agreed she had done her homework. She was not there to pat us on the head. She knew exactly what was being talked about. She was very generous with her time and attention. She gave us an hour. "She has a huge charge on her plate. Her first commitment is getting A and Es straightened out in every hospital in the country. There were some strong things I got from her. She wants the best health care she can get for Ireland, she is interested in doing p u b l i c / p r ivat e partnerships and she wants to bring healthcare to local communities in terms of more clinic type facilities." Ms O'Dwyer, who is one of two Americans who has pledged a total of $5 million dollars to provide a brain surgery unit here - Professor Patrick Kelly, one of the world's leading neurosurgeons whose mother came from Salthill, has committed a $4 million gamma laser knife (which is used to treat tumours) - says she is "permanently surprised" that people in the west of Ireland are denied a major medical facility such as a brain surgery unit. "It is stunning in this day and age that something like this is not available in Galway. You have the population as well as tourists. When people think of head injuries, they think immediately of car accidents. But there are some other causes, women get on a chair to hang curtains and fall hitting their head on the corner of a table or radiator and people get head injuries from falling down stairs or construction work." About 900 people in the west sustain traumatic brain injuries each year. The long-term effects on them and their families can be devastating. A high percentage are young people who can expect a normal life span. However, for many of them, it is a life spent in unsuitable institutions or thrown back into the care of their families often with little support. Pam Fleming who lives in Kinvara and who is very involved with the WNC - her son Sammy (27) sustained a brain injury seven years ago after falling from his bicycle close to their home - says it is essential that neurosurgery services are available in the west to ensure head injury patients get the best possible chance of

recovery. "If you need brain surgery and don't get it within two hours, you could die or the disability you could suffer could be far greater than need be. It can take up to seven hours to get a patient from Galway to Dublin for brain surgery. Timing is of the essence and at present patients from the western seaboard are at a complete disadvantage."

Minister of State Noel Treacy greets Tanaiste and Minister for Health Mary Harney during her visit to St Brigid's Hospital, Loughrea on Tuesday. Photo:-Mike Shaughnessy

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