Stroke services inconsistent throughout England

We have published the results of a major review into stroke services around England.

Stroke is the single largest cause of disability in adults. Access to high quality support and services is imperative for recovery.

However, our national report reveals inconsistencies regarding:

• peoples’ transfer from hospital to home
• access to specialist community-based rehabilitation services, such as speech and language therapy
• support for carers
• information given to people around the time they leave hospital
• how well services take account of the communication needs of people with aphasia

The review shows that whilst many areas have considerable scope for improvement, other areas are providing good quality services on most aspects of stroke care.