Press release -
Stroke survivors speak up to improve stroke care for others.
22nd December 2014
Stroke survivors speak up to improve stroke care for others.
Stroke survivors and carers met with a variety of stroke care professionals to give feedback on their experience of stroke and the stroke care pathway in City. The annual feedback event was held in the Holiday Inn on 20th November 2014.
Participants attended workshops and gave their views on “the Hospital Experience”, “Emotional and other ‘Hidden’ Effects of Stroke” and “Living Your Life After Stroke”. Feedback on the Hospital experience focused around:
- - Lack of privacy in hospital for discussions, procedures
- - Requirement for more information on arrival in the stroke ward and as people leave
- - Praise for the care and speed of access to stroke staff in the hospital
Throughout the day discussion moved onto the stroke survivors’ experience of stroke and the emotional impact. Stroke survivors told the group they were far more emotional after the stroke, experienced anxiety, anger and frustration as well as deep concern for their family who need to look after them.
Juliet Turner, Health Promotion& Engagement Coordinator – Southampton, said “The day was really helpful to hear first-hand from the stroke survivors of their experiences. They asked for increased services when they returned home such as speech therapy and access to counselling to help them deal with the massive impact of stoke.”
All the feedback from the day has been collated and used to form an action plan for the Stroke Association Patient and Public Engagement Steering group for 2015/16 to help improve stroke services in the city.
All stroke survivors, carers and stroke care professionals are welcome to drop in to the Stroke Association User Involvement Group, held in Sainsbury’s Community Room, Portswood Road, Southampton on the 2nd Thursday of every month, 2pm-4pm. For further inquiries please contact the Stroke Association on 02380 720420.
Ends
For further information or to arrange an interview please contact
Cheryl Randeria on 07810 697957 or email Cheryl@clrcommunications.co.uk
Notes to Editor
- On the day stroke survivors spoke to people from The Stroke Association, Southampton City CCG, Solent NHS Trust, University Hospital Southampton and Southampton City Council.
- Participants were welcomed by Healthwatch Lead Mr Harry Dymond MBE. Progress updates on issues raised at the 2013 event were provided by Juliet Cox, Head of Patient Experience and Natasha Watts, Neurosciences Matron at University Hospital Southampton, Ellie Wightman and Emma Jordan from the Community Stroke Team and Juliet Turner, Health Promotion and Engagement Coordinator with the Stroke Association. Dr Richard Marigold, Consultant Stroke Physician gave a brief overview of stroke services at University Hospital Southampton. Representatives from partner organisations participated in a question and answer session taking questions from attendees.
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A stroke is a brain attack which happens when the blood supply to the brain is cut off, caused by a clot or bleeding in the brain. There are around 152,000 strokes in the UK every year and it is the leading cause of severe adult disability. There are over 1.2 million people in the UK living with the effects of stroke.
Stroke Association is a charity. We believe in life after stroke and together we can conquer stroke. We work directly with stroke survivors and their families and carers, with health and social care professionals and with scientists and researchers. We campaign to improve stroke care and support people to make the best recovery they can. We fund research to develop new treatments and ways of preventing stroke. The Stroke Helpline (0303 303 3100) provides information and support on stroke. More information can be found at www.stroke.org.uk
