Many areas of stroke treatment and care ‘have stalled or gone backwards in the past six years,’ the Stroke Association has said.
The charity made the comments in response to a report from KCL’s Sentinel Stroke National Audit Programme (SSNAP) published on Thursday.
The Post-Acute Organisational Audit Report (PAOA) looks at data including staffing levels, access to timely multidisciplinary care and seven-day working.
The report revealed improvements in areas such as Early Supported Discharge (ESD). However, other areas remained well below NHS targets.
Charlotte Nicholls, Head of Policy, Stroke Association said: “New stroke statistics from SSNAP highlight the harsh reality of the experiences of the 1.3 million stroke survivors that are rebuilding their lives in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
“Alarmingly, in many areas treatment and care has stalled or even gone backwards in the last six years.”
Progress in rolling out thrombectomy treatment has ‘stagnated’ at around just two per cent – well below the NHS target of 10 per cent, the spokesperson noted.
And while the charity welcomed the expansion of ESD services, Nicholls noted that patients face a postcode lottery when leaving hospital.
Just over a third (33 per cent) of community rehab teams meet their treatment time targets and almost half of patients (43 per cent) have to wait more than two weeks for rehab.
Stroke survivors also have to wait an average of 10 weeks to see a psychologist and many do not receive a six-month review, the SSNAP report revealed.
Nicholls said: “The stark and wide nature of challenges that are threatening stroke survivors’ recoveries are exposed in these reports.
“We know that the Covid-19 pandemic has exacerbated existing system-wide pressures, but the improvements achieved in other parts of the system highlight the possibilities for advances.
“We urgently need to make sure stroke survivors get the support they need, regardless of where they have a stroke, so they can live their best lives possible.
“We want to see a renewed focus on delivering the priorities outlined in the NHS Long Term Plan and improving universal access to stroke prevention, treatment and high quality care.”
