Regulator highlights stroke care ‘postcode lottery’

Support for people who have had a stroke varies widely across England, an official regulator has said.

A major new review by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) has concluded there are large variations in support for stroke survivors, with the good services provided in some regions not mirrored throughout the country.

Some patients have little or no access to specialist community-based rehabilitation, with just two-thirds of primary care trusts commissioning specialist physiotherapy services and less than 40 percent of areas providing good access to psychological therapy or stroke counselling.

Patients in nearly half of areas face a two-week wait or longer before they start community-based speech and language therapy, while just 37 percent of areas offer rehabilitation services to help people return to work.

The CQC also highlighted problems with access to helplines outside normal office hours, the provision of information on stroke in languages other than English, and the availability of peer support for carers.

Commenting on the findings, director of communications at the Stroke Association Joe Korner said: "The fact that most other areas are able to provide these vital services shows that much more can and should be done to meet stroke survivors' needs."