Changes to Life After Stroke Service Survey

Continuing the conversation to transform stroke services in Sussex

Sussex Health & Care want everyone to benefit from safe, effective, and high-quality stroke services when they need them. Stroke is a preventable and treatable disease. NHS Sussex remain committed to transforming stroke services across the whole stroke journey. NHS Sussex are now continuing this ongoing conversation with people and communities across Sussex around Life After Stroke Services.

Lets Talk: Life After Stroke

Sussex Health & Care want everyone to benefit from safe, effective, and high-quality stroke services when they need them. Stroke is a preventable and treatable disease. However, it is also one of the leading causes of death in the UK and the largest single cause of severe disability. More than 100,000 strokes happen in the UK every year. With an increasing number of people surviving stroke and an ageing population, by 2035, the number of stroke survivors living in the UK is also expected to rise to over 2.1 million.

What is the Life after Stroke Service?

Personalised life after stroke support is an essential part of the recovery pathway. Life after stroke support is different, yet complementary, to rehabilitation and has a strong emphasis on living well with the effects of stroke; it is about empowering people to take an active part in their own recovery in a way that compliments the way that they want to live their life.

The need for change

Sussex Health & Care are now working with all partners to consider all areas of health and care spend to ensure that it is delivering the highest impact for people and patients and is focused on clear areas of priority both within our five-year strategy Improving Lives Together and our delivery plans for this year. We know we need to focus for 2024-25 on key areas of delivery – national priorities, local priorities, and where improvements are needed for our population.

Life After Stroke services are currently delivered by Stroke Association across Sussex. However, there are differences to what is offered to stroke survivors across Brighton & Hove, East Sussex and West Sussex. The are other neuro-stroke charities that also support stroke survivors and their families but are not currently funded by the NHS and other local charities that provide wider support.

The ambition is to create a service delivered across Sussex that is flexible to the changing needs of stroke survivors, their families, and carers. To do this, NHS Sussex are continuing our conversation with stroke survivors, their families, and carers as well as clinical staff and local charities in designing a new service that meets this ambition.