14 March 2013
DOZENS of people affected by the physical, emotional and social effects of stroke have been helping health professionals to shape further improvements in stroke services across South Yorkshire.
Researchers from Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, the University of Sheffield and the Collaboration for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care for South Yorkshire (CLAHRC SY) asked patients to give their views on how stroke services and support could be further enhanced over the coming years.
Stroke is the single largest cause of adult disability in the UK – and last year resulted in nearly 1,000 hospital admissions in Sheffield alone.
During an event held at Rotherham’s Hellaby Hall, over 30 stroke survivors, their relatives and carers identified key priorities where they felt stroke care could be further improved.
These included psychological support, focusing rehabilitation around individual needs, and enhancing the support patients are given when they leave hospital and during the different steps of their recovery process. They also said they thought other early warning signs of stroke should be incorporated into the national ‘Face, Arm, Speech, Time (FAST)’ awareness campaign such as confusion, headaches, leg weakness, and not being about to understand written information.
Madeleine Harrison, who is a stroke quality researcher based at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and is heading up the ‘Improving Stroke Unit Quality’ project on behalf of CLAHRC SY, said: “Stroke is a condition which often has long-term physical and emotional consequences, affecting not just the patient but their carer too. In the past few years we’ve improved stroke services across the region by establishing dedicated stroke units, so this study was key to finding out how these improvements have benefited patients and what more we could do to further shape services around patients’ needs.
“We’d like to thank all the patients, carers and relatives who took part in the research, and over the coming months we’ll be looking at how their experiences can help us to build on the excellent work which has already taken place in the stroke units across South Yorkshire.”
There are three early stroke warning signs highlighted in the Department of Health’s ‘FAST’ test. These include the face drooping on one side, an inability to smile, drooping eyes or mouth, an inability to lift one arm or both arms and keep them there, slurred speech. Anyone noticing these signs should call 999 immediately. For further information go to www.nhs.uk/actfast/.
The event formed part of the Improving Stroke Unit Quality Project, which was funded by Sheffield Hospitals Charitable Fund via the Collaboration for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care for South Yorkshire (CLAHRC SY).
Stroke services in Sheffield have recently undergone a major transformation, with all care services now delivered from the Royal Hallamshire Hospital. This service, which has been well received by patients, means that patients are assessed immediately by a member of the stroke unit as soon as they arrive at hospital.
