By Vivienne Russell
12 January 2010
The health service watchdog has identified wide variations in the quality of stroke care across England.
A report from the Care Quality Commission, published today, highlighted good practice in some parts of the country, particularly the Northeast and Southwest, but said this was far from universal.
Of particular concern was the quality of rehabilitation services offered to stroke patients after they are discharged from hospital.
The CQC found that only two-thirds of primary care trusts commissioned specialist stroke physiotherapy, while fewer than 40% of areas provided good access to psychological therapy or stroke counsellors.
CQC chief executive Cynthia Bower said: ‘Stroke is the single largest cause of disability in adults and our evidence shows that early access to intense rehabilitation is beneficial to people’s recovery.
‘The level of variation is a concern, but the report also shows that the barriers to effective care after transfer home and around person-centred care can be overcome and improvements made, which can help people to recover from, and cope with, life after stroke.
‘We expect to see local health and social services working with stroke survivors, carers and representative groups to agree and implement a plan to improve services, drawing on the results of our assessments of services in local areas.’
Jo Webber, deputy director of policy at the NHS Confederation, agreed that more co-ordination between health and social services would be vital.
‘Stroke care is just one good example of where the £1bn routed to social care in the Comprehensive Spending Review can be best put to use to help improve patient care outside traditional health settings,’ she said.
