Press release -
Positive meeting with Northern Ireland Health Minister, but more urgency needed to make stroke a priority
Stroke Association Northern Ireland Director Alasdair O’Hara and Dr Niamh Kennedy, chair of the charity’s Northern Ireland advisory committee, met with Northern Ireland Health Minister Mike Nesbitt and representatives from the Department of Health today to discuss the key issues affecting stroke survivors and carers.
These are:
- The need to make thrombectomy available 24/7 for everyone who needs it.
- Better life after stroke support services enabling stroke survivors to thrive and rebuild their lives.
- Delivering timely transformation of stroke services.
Following the meeting at Stormont, Alasdair O’Hara said:
“The Stroke Association were pleased to meet with Minister Nesbitt and his team today to talk about some of the pressing issues in stroke treatment and care in Northern Ireland as well as opportunities to drive improvements in stroke services.
“The Health Minister reiterated that the transformation of stroke services remains a key priority for him and his Department but that the need for additional funding is hindering progress.
“On thrombectomy, discussion focused on the need to expand the procedure to be available 24/7 for everyone who needs it. The Minister set out that this remains a key priority for him but will require investment. This is positive but we continue to call on the Department to stand by its previous commitment to expand the service to be available 24/7. Failing to do so will have devastating consequences on so many lives.”
Dr Niamh Kennedy said:
“On life after stroke support, we highlighted the many gaps in long-term, post-acute support for stroke survivors to thrive and rebuild their lives after stroke. In particular, we highlighted the historic lack of investment in psychological and emotional support for people affected by stroke resulting in many stroke survivors and their families feeling completely abandoned when they leave hospital.
“We also updated the Minister on our own emotional support service, which is the only stroke-specific counselling service in Northern Ireland, and the funding challenges for this service."
Alasdair O’Hara concluded:
“The Minister set out his commitment to transformation of stroke services and shared current plans and timescales for this work. We spoke about the need for timely completion and the importance of transparent communication. There is a wealth of evidence that transforming how we deliver acute stroke services can save lives, improve outcomes for patients and save money for the health service.
“Overall, it was a positive meeting with the Minister and his team reiterating their commitment to transforming and improving stroke services. But progress in some areas has been slow and a lack of investment is hindering much-needed improvements for patients and staff.
“The scale and prevalence of stroke are increasing in Northern Ireland – the Health Minister must take action to make stroke the priority it needs to be.”
Topics
Categories
Over 88,000 people survive a stroke every year in the UK, but surviving a stroke is just the start of a long and traumatic battle to finding their way back to life.
The Stroke Association is the only charity in the UK providing life-long support for all stroke survivors and their families. We provide tailored support to tens of thousands of stroke survivors each year, fund vital scientific research, and campaign to bring the best care and support for everyone affected by stroke.
Anyone affected by stroke can visit stroke.org.uk or call our dedicated Stroke Support Helpline on 0303 3033 100 for information, guidance or a chat when times are tough.
