Stroke survivors should inspire us all to rebuild the NHS

 Except your focusing on the wrong thing, mechanical thrombectomy is only the first step to 100% recovery.  Your view of this problem is way too limited. 100% recovery is the only goal in stroke!

Stroke survivors should inspire us all to rebuild the NHS

 The SNP Government should prioritise rolling out services

Last month, I watched a man slalom down a ski slope in Glasgow before crossing over the finish line. And if that sounds remarkable enough, the man was a stroke survivor.

PA

I witnessed this at an unusual gym, deep in the heart of Strathclyde University, where stroke survivors come to build up their motor skills again with the help of specially-designed devices.

Davy, the skier, was practising shifting his weight, each movement mimicked by the virtual avatar on the screen in front of him, while other gym users built up muscle strength or attached sensors to track their progress in walking again.

This special gym was set up in 2021 by the Sir Jules Thorn Centre for the Co-Creation of Rehabilitation Technology. I was there as a guest of Chest Heart and Stroke Scotland who have funded the roll out of specialist equipment to leisure or health centres in Dundee, Blantyre and Wishaw which is improving stroke survivors’ access to rehab.

Timely intervention is everything when it comes to the quality of life of stroke survivors – yet too often this SNP government fails them. In June, I met doctors who are desperate to see mechanical thrombectomy – an emergency procedure to remove the blood clots that do so much damage – rolled out 24/7.

This is already the case in many parts of England, but in Scotland the service is only available during working hours. In other words, if you are unfortunate enough to have a stroke at 9pm rather than 9am, you could be unnecessarily disabled for life.

The UK Labour Government delivered a record Budget settlement for Holyrood with literally billions of pounds extra for health – the SNP Government should prioritise rolling out this service.

Doing so will save countless Scots from years of avoidable suffering, and reduce our social care bills too. Yet damningly, the latest Scottish Stroke Improvement Figures showed that just 2.2 percent of stroke patients are receiving a thrombectomy, while the time it takes stroke patients to get more traditional clot-busting treatment known as thrombolysis has actually increased since 2018.

Of course, the reality is that for some, intervention will always come too late to avoid life-changing effects. That is why I back the right to rehab for stroke survivors’.

The gym at Strathclyde University is an example of what can be done with a little imagination. Researchers are also using simple but effective concepts like mirror therapy to develop cost-effective games and puzzles that will help stroke survivors retrain their muscles. There is no reason why, in a few years’ time, these kinds of tools couldn’t be stocked in leisure centres and gyms around the country.

But it’s telling that these ideas are coming from charities, doctors, researchers and stroke survivors themselves rather than the SNP government who are out of ideas.

A Scottish Labour government will invest in a health service that meets people where they are, rather than forcing them to queue at the hospital gates.

An NHS app that actually works across Scotland, rather than just for dermatology appointments in Lanarkshire.

A functioning social care system so that patients stuck in hospital beds can go home safely.

There’s no doubt that our NHS is under more pressure than ever before.

But stroke survivors should inspire us all to rebuild it.