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Stroke – ‘at your fingertips’

If you have recently had a stroke, you will be one of about 130,000 people in the UK this year to have suffered a similar fate. That is a stroke happening to someone new every five minutes. At any one time in an average district general hospital there will be between 20 and 30 people occupying beds as a result of stroke. It is the fourth commonest cause of death and the most frequent cause of disability in adults. At any one time there are 350,000 people living with the long-term disability that sometimes results from stroke. It affects people of all ages, including children, although half of all cases occur in those over 75 years of age. The life of every person who has a stroke will change, even if they make a full recovery. The effects of stroke are not limited to that individual: family, friends and carers will also be affected. Society as a whole suffers. Every year 10,000 people of working age have a stroke. The NHS spends 4% of its budget providing care for people with stroke, and a considerable proportion of spending by social services goes to providing continuing support for people at home and in residential care. Yet, despite the importance of the condition to individuals and society, only recently has much attention been paid to it by research scientists, the medical profession or the politicians. It still receives only a tiny proportion of funding compared with the money spent on cancer research and it is only now that a speciality of ‘stroke medicine’ is being developed. A recent audit has shown that many areas of the UK do not offer the sort of care that people with stroke deserve. So, if you (or a relative) have had a stroke, it is vital that you know as much about the illness as possible. You should know what has happened to you and what treatment you have a right to expect to receive. Services are slowly improving, but they will improve much more quickly if you demand your rights.

Authors: Anthony Rudd, Penny Irwin and Bridget Penhale