THE FUTURE OF a centre offering health screening to people across the country with risk factors for sudden cardiac death is uncertain because of a lack of government funding, it has been claimed.
The Centre of Cardiac Risk in Young Persons, based at Dublin’s Tallaght Hospital, has provided free screening to more than 3,500 individuals since it was set up in 2007.
Some 10 per cent of those screened to date have been found to have heart problems, which would otherwise have gone undetected.
Many of the people seen in the centre are referred there because of a family history of heart disease.
The centre also offers screening to the families of young people who have died of sudden cardiac death syndrome, something more widely publicised since the death of Tyrone footballer Cormac McAnallen in 2004.
While screening is offered to those aged one to 74 years, most of the centre’s patients are aged 14-35 years. In the last year, three patients have had internal defibrillators fitted to shock the heart back into action should it stop.
About 1,300 patients have been screened each year but the centre would like to screen 3,000 people a year, according to its latest annual report. The average cost of screening is €189.
All of the equipment and most of the salaries of staff at the centre are dependant on charitable donations, the report adds.
With charities finding it difficult to raise money in the recession, and State funds in short supply, its future looks uncertain.
“Our future is uncertain, as the continued financial crisis in public finances and private pockets has significantly altered our outlook,” the report says.
“To continue our service at the current level, we will require an annual fundraising total of €250,000.
“To allow us to expand our service in line with demand, and to provide a de facto national service for inherited cardiac diseases . . . we would require a total of €1.56 million over the next three years.”
Dr Deirdre Ward, co-director of the centre, said the report would be presented to Health Minister James Reilly in the hope that he would provide some funding to secure its future.
An adults-only screening service is also offered at Dublin’s Mater Hospital. It too is funded through charitable donations.
The Tallaght centre would also like to conduct a study to assess the prevalence of inherited cardiac disease in Ireland, and to assess the effectiveness of a pilot population screening programme.
This would involve an ECG recording on 16,000 adolescents across the country and would require a budget of €1 million.