A FACILITY for teenagers and young adults born with heart defects, dedicated to one of the Republic’s foremost heart surgeons, has been opened in the Mater hospital in Dublin.
The Maurice Neligan Congenital Heart Clinic is designed to help young people make the transition from children’s to adult health services and is funded by Heart Children Ireland.
The voluntary organisation, which receives no Government funding, raised more than €50,000 for the conversion of a former balcony off the cardiac ward in the Mater into a consultation area for patients who have transferred from Our Lady’s Children’s Hospital, Crumlin.
The facility is named after the late surgeon and Irish Times columnist who performed Ireland’s first heart transplant in 1985. Mr Neligan died suddenly last October at the age of 73.
The clinic will allow young people to see a congenital heart nurse on a drop-in basis in between regular appointments.
Some 95 per cent of babies born with heart defects were now living into adulthood, which had created the need for transitional services, Kevin Walsh, consultant congenital cardiologist at the Mater said.
“As a result of medical advances, adults with congenital heart disease are a rapidly expanding patient population. They have specific problems and needs, many of which are currently unmet.”
The funding provided by Heart Children Ireland would support and empower young patients with information about their condition and help them to lead productive and fulfilling lives, he said. “When problems arise they will have a point of contact to allow them to access clinical services in a timely fashion.”
An average of 250 patients are transferred from Crumlin to the Mater every year, which was testament to advancements made in cardiac treatment and care, chairwoman of the organisation, Suzanne Treacy said.
