In a compelling article by Ronan McGreevy in the Irish Times Family and Health supplement we see behind the scenes at the Dublin Neurological Institute, get to understand some of the heartbreaking stories as patients and their families deal with some terrible neurological disorders. We get an insight on their day to day challenges and also their fears for their families’ futures that often come with diseases that are potentially hereditary.

Prof. Tim Lynch describes the challenges for himself and the team at the Institute  with some of the neurological conditions they treat among the most insidious of diseases. Dementia and Alzheimer’s disease have confounded the billions of dollars spent on them by pharmaceutical companies.

He also describes how one of the main challenges is maintaining  funding for the DNI as a charity which he characterises as being funded ‘on a wing and a prayer’. However all the efforts of the staff and  fundraisers have made a significant and discernible difference “You get best value for your money and excellence in quality of healthcare,” he adds. “We have been able to lower the length of stay for patients with a neurological problem in the Mater by three days.”

In the face of  these challenges Prof. Lynch is determined to remain an optimist about the future for the DNI and neurological care in general.

Read the full article ‘The faces and brains behind the doors of the Dublin Neurological Institute’ on The Irish Times website via the link below.

FULL ARTICLE