Stroke helplineWebsite www.stroke.org.uk Developments in Stroke Services

Stroke helplineWebsite www.stroke.org.uk The National Service Framework for Older People has delivered improvement in England. For example: Increase in Stroke Units (2004 = 79%, 2006 = 91%) Acute stroke units (2004 = 34%, 2006 = 50%) More neurovascular clinics (2004 = 65%, 2006 = 78%) Context

Stroke helplineWebsite www.stroke.org.uk The NSF highlighted the need for: “speech and language therapy for patients with communication or swallowing difficulties” in stroke units. And said: “Following a stroke, any patient reporting a significant disability at six months should be re- assessed and offered further targeted rehabilitation if this can help them to recover further function” Context

Stroke helplineWebsite www.stroke.org.uk 62% of stroke patients were admitted to a stroke unit at some point during their stay. But only 54% spent more than half of their stay in a stroke unit. Of the 341,343 bed-days captured in the audit, 195,629 (57%) were spent in a stroke unit. A third of patients with swallowing disorders had not been assessed by a Speech and Language Therapist within 72 hours of admission or 7 days for those with communication deficits. Sentinel Audit results

Stroke helplineWebsite www.stroke.org.uk Stroke Unit Multidisciplinary team meetings Team meetings once weekly 82% 96% 100% Those attending: Medicine (Senior Doctor) 81% 93% 98% Nursing 84% 96% 100% Occupational Therapy 82% 95% 99% Physiotherapy 83% 96% 100% Speech & Language Therapy 63% 74% 83% Sentinel Audit

Stroke helplineWebsite www.stroke.org.uk Did you get enough help with difficulties with speaking? In hospital 4 months after 12 months after leaving hospital leaving hospital Yes50% 43% 43% To some extent 34% 26% 31% No 16% 31% 26% Patient Survey 2006

Stroke helplineWebsite www.stroke.org.uk “I know she gets frustrated at not being able to say what she wants to and although we have our own little system of signals now she wants to be able to talk to her grandchildren. I have been told there was one speech therapist covering the whole area, and they had been asked to cut back their hours to just four days a week.” View from the Stroke front line

Stroke helplineWebsite www.stroke.org.uk The DH Stroke Strategy High hopes for the strategy – launched last March Good involvement from across the “stroke world” Six working groups have come up with recommendations covering: Awareness and prevention of stroke TIA Emergency care Hospital care Post hospital care Workforce

Stroke helplineWebsite www.stroke.org.uk The DH Stroke Strategy Strategy consultation document to be published imminently. We don’t know to what extent the recommendations we want to see will be in it. We don’t know how prescriptive it will be We believe it needs to be as strong as possible in order to affect real and rapid change on the ground

Stroke helplineWebsite www.stroke.org.uk The DH Stroke Strategy Whatever the content – we need as many people as possible to respond to the consultation. Look on our website. Look on the DH website. Our views will have much greater weight if they are amongst hundreds, or even thousands, of responses.

Stroke helplineWebsite www.stroke.org.uk Guidelines NICE guidelines for emergency and acute care of TIA and stroke in development Next version of the clinical stroke guidelines being developed by the Inter-collegiate Stroke Working Party National Audit Office will be doing a follow up report before the end of this Parliament

Stroke helplineWebsite www.stroke.org.uk Other work… The Aphasia Alliance Stroke Association campaigns on communication disability UK Stroke Forum