The results of the first Irish National Audit of Stroke Care (INASC) carried out by a joint research team from RCSI and Trinity College Dublin (TCD) were published today.

The project commissioned by the Irish Heart Foundation (IHF), in association with the Department of Health and Children, is the largest study of stroke ever to take place in Ireland.

Stroke kills more people in Ireland than lung cancer, bowel cancer and breast cancer combined. Approximately 10,000 people experience a stroke each year in the Republic of Ireland (ESRI) and it is estimated that over 30,000 people in Ireland are survivors of stroke.

Commenting on the study, Dr Frances Horgan report author and senior lecturer at the School of Physiotherapy, RCSI, said: “The findings of this first and largest ever study on stroke care in Ireland, provides much-needed national evidence to shape Irish stroke services in the foreseeable future.”

The project involved six separate surveys: hospital clinical and organisational audits, modelled on the UK Sentinel audit and community-based surveys of general practitioners, allied healthcare practitioners, patients and carers, and nursing homes. Dr Frances Horgan led on the hospital component of the study and Dr Anne Hickey, (Division of Population Health Sciences, Psychology, RCSI) on the community component.

According to Dr Anne Hickey, “findings of the national audit highlight the need for focused efforts in developing comprehensive and integrated stroke services in Ireland”.

The other members of the team included: Professor Hannah McGee (Division of Population Health Sciences, Psychology, RCSI) and Professor Desmond O’Neill (Medical Gerontology, TCD); Professor David Whitford (Division of Population Health Sciences, General Practice, RCSI); Professor Seamus Cowman (Nursing and Midwifery, RCSI); Professor Ronan Conroy (Division of Population Health Sciences, Epidemiology and Public Health Medicine, RCSI); Dr Emer Shelley (Division of Population Health Sciences, Epidemiology and Public Health Medicine RCSI,); Dr Sean Murphy (Consultant Geriatrician, Department of Geriatric Medicine, Midland Regional Hospital at Mullingar); and Professor Miriam Wiley (Head of Health Policy Research Centre, Economic and Social Research Institute).

In addition 12 research fellows were also part of the research team. Key research fellows involved in conducting the audit were Karen Galligan, Ms Maeve Royston and Maeve Proctor (Division of Population Health Sciences, RCSI).