'Postcode lottery' for brain injury patients in WalesRSS Feed

Brain injury patients in Wales are subject to some degree of a "postcode lottery" in their care, doctors and health campaigners have warned.

BBC Wales programme Taro Naw was told that there are no dedicated community brain injury services in the country, leading to bed blocking in some cases, BBC News reports.

According to Dr Jenny Thomas, a consultant at Rookwood Hospital in Cardiff, there is too much variation in specialist care in the community the more rural parts of Wales.

"I wouldn't say that care for patients is any worse in those areas, but we certainly have to keep patients in hospital for longer than we would if there were specialist teams in their areas," she told the programme.

Meanwhile, charity Headway said there is no specialist care available west of Swansea, where there is a traumatic brain injury service at Morriston Hospital.

Recently, the National Institute for Clinical Excellence advised doctors that a cooling treatment to prevent cardiac arrest patients from becoming brain damaged is safe.

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