05 December 2007

PRIME MINISTER QUESTION ON STROKE SERVICES 

At Prime Minister’s Question Time today, Stafford’s Labour MP David Kidney told of his pleasure at the announcement of a new NHS Stroke Strategy.  He linked the news to his visit to a Stroke Association-led rehabilitation class in Stafford, calling on Gordon Brown to make sure the strategy involves the Stroke Association, patients and their carers.
 
David Kidney explains:

“Approximately 110,000 people in England have a stroke each year. It is the single leading cause of adult disability, with around 300,000 people living in England with moderate or severe disability due to stroke.

“People affected by stroke and their carers should have immediate access to high quality rehabilitation and support from stroke-skilled services in hospital, allowing people to get home faster. This specialist care should continue for as long as it is needed. And I am pleased that the new strategy sets out to achieve this. Those with stroke requiring urgent brain imaging scanned within the next scan slot during normal working hours, and within 60mins out of hours.

“My visit to the Stroke Association class in Stafford this summer raised my awareness of the value of involving patients and their carers, as well as trusted organisations like Stroke Association, in delivering quality stroke care.

“For this reason, I am pleased that the strategy provides for raising awareness of stroke nationally, training more stroke consultants, nurses and allied health professionals and setting up acute and community demonstration sites to pioneer best practice. I am delighted that the Prime Minister answered my question very positively and confirmed that he, too, recognises the value of the Stroke Association and he intends that patients and their carers will be fully involved in making a success of the new strategy”.

The current situation for stroke:

Stroke is the third leading cause of death, at approximately 11%.
One in ten strokes occur in people under the age of 55; 25% in those under 65 years.
More than three times as many women die from stroke than from breast cancer.
African, Caribbean and South Asian men have a 40-70% greater prevalence of stroke than the general population.

What changes will the strategy bring about?

Prevention of between 400 and 600 strokes per year
- Approximately 300 fewer strokes due to improved treatment and after-care for patients with TIA
- Approximately 200 fewer strokes due to use of six week and six month reviews for previous TIA/stroke patients
Between 2350 and 4350 additional individuals will be independent rather than dependent following a stroke
- Use of clot-busting drugs (‘thrombolysis’) will lead to approximately 550 more individuals leading independent lives following stroke
- Approximately 800 more individuals will return to independence following treatment in a stroke unit
- Psychological services will lead to independence for approximately 200 individuals
- Rehabilitation services based in the community will produce an additional 1500 independent individuals
- Approximately 300 individuals will return to independence following implementation of six week and six month reviews
By sending patients with stroke to specialised stroke units, between 4,300 and 6,800 individuals will survive and have independence rather than experiencing a fatal stroke
In summary, up to 1,600 strokes per year could be prevented, and outcomes could be improved for a further 6,800 people.