I don't see where assessments do any good right now with so little concrete therapy protocols available. At least they have some standards.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ukpress/article/ALeqM5icS4CcJBTdyIa5GzK4IbmTQ7iCDQ?docId=N0007771335807106287A
Stroke survivors are not making the best possible recovery because of a lack of post-hospital care, according to a new report.
More
than a third of survivors (38%) surveyed had not been assessed on their
health and care needs to help them with their recovery, found a study
by the Stroke Association.
More than half (53%) of people who had suffered a stroke in the last three years had been assessed only once.
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. Around
150,000 people have a stroke in the UK every year and more than one
million people in the UK are living with the effects of stroke.
Without
assessments, patients are missing out on services that are essential to
them making the fullest possible recovery, the charity said. The
Government's National Stroke Strategy states people should receive an
assessment six weeks after leaving hospital, again at six months and
then annually.
Just under four out of 10 (38%) of those who had
received an assessment had been given a care plan outlining the services
and treatments that would be put in place to help them get better,
according to the study of more than 2,200 survivors and carers.
Jon
Barrick, chief executive at the Stroke Association, said: "More people
than ever are surviving a stroke and that's a welcome improvement. But
many stroke survivors tell us that after all the effort to save their
lives they then feel abandoned when they return home.
"The NHS and
local authorities are failing in their responsibilities to provide
appropriate and timely support to stroke survivors and their families;
and the growing evidence of cuts for people currently getting services
is very worrying."
A Department of Health spokesman said there was
still more to do to improve the care given to those surviving strokes.
He said: "Care of stroke patients in hospital has improved dramatically
over recent years with the majority of patients now treated in
specialist stroke units, but we know there is still more to do.
"That
is why we have established a programme which focuses on driving up
standards for stroke patients, by ensuring, among other things, that
patients have a joint care plan prepared for them before they leave
hospital. Modernisation of the NHS will help to integrate health and
social care services."
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