01.05.12
Stroke recovery services need improvement
Stroke patients are not making the best recovery due to a lack of post-hospital care, the Stroke Association asserts. A survey of patients recovering from a stroke suggested that assessments needed improvement.
Of those surveyed, 38% had not been assessed on health and care needs to help their recovery. 53% of those who had had a stroke in the last three years had only been assessed once, despite the government’s National Stroke Strategy stating that patients should receive assessment six weeks after leaving hospital, then at six months, then annually.
Of those who were assessed, only 38% were given a care plan, leaving friends and family the responsibility for looking after the patients. Services were withdrawn for 18%, despite no improvement in their condition.
The Stroke Association is calling for improved coordination of health and social care services, as well as better training for social care staff and regular assessments and reviews for all stroke patients.
Jon Barrick, chief executive at the Stroke Association, said: “Many stroke survivors tell us that after all the effort to save their lives they then feel abandoned when they return home.
“The NHS and local authorities are failing in their responsibilities to provide appropriate and timely support to stroke survivors and their families; and the growing evidence of cuts for people currently getting services is very worrying.”
A Department of Health spokesperson said: “Care of stroke patients in hospital has improved dramatically over recent years with the majority of patients now treated in specialist stroke units, but we know there is still more to do.
“That is why we have established a programme which focuses on driving up standards for stroke patients, by ensuring, among other things, that patients have a joint care plan prepared for them before they leave hospital.
“Modernisation of the NHS will help to integrate health and social care services. The new health and wellbeing boards will bring together representatives of different health and care services to agree a joint health and wellbeing strategy for their area. Making sure that different services work together around patient needs will be key to that strategy.”
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