Local Healthwatch teams want to hear about life after stroke
Healthwatch teams in Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin, Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire are working together to understand people’s experiences of recovery after a stroke and the services and support currently available in each area. This includes hospital treatment, rehabilitation, leaving hospital and receiving support at home.
If you have experienced a stroke, or supported someone through their recovery, your local Healthwatch Teams are wanting to hear from you. Sharing what worked well and what could have been better will help build a clearer picture of local stroke services, where the gaps are and can be used to help improve these services in the future.
Share your experience of stroke support
Healthwatch would like to hear from people who have had a stroke, as well as carers, family members, friends and loved ones.
The teams want to understand:
- whether people and their families feel prepared to leave hospital or be discharged from a rehabilitation service
- whether they receive clear information about what happens next and who to contact for help in their area
- how quickly rehabilitation, therapy and follow-up support begin
- what help is available to regain independence and adapt to life after a stroke
- how easy or difficult it is to access community rehabilitation, social care and practical support
- what support is available for carers and family members
Healthwatch wants to hear about all experiences, whether they were positive, difficult or somewhere in between.
Your experience does not need to be recent but will ideally be within the last two years to build a current picture. Every story can help Healthwatch understand what stroke recovery is like after someone leaves hospital and where services may need to improve.
Visits to stroke services
As part of this work, trained and authorised Healthwatch representatives will carry out Enter and View visits to selected stroke units and rehabilitation services. Enter and View allows Healthwatch to visit publicly funded health and social care services, see how they operate and hear about people’s experiences, including hospital wards and clinics.
The visits will take place across Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin, Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire. Representatives will visit in joint teams and, where appropriate, speak with patients, carers and staff.
What representatives see and hear will be considered alongside the experiences people share directly with Healthwatch.
The research will consider the whole stroke pathway, from urgent hospital treatment to recovery at home. It will also explore how well different services and organisations work together.
How to have your say
Have you or someone you care about received stroke rehabilitation or support after leaving hospital?
You can share your experience of:
- hospital care
- rehabilitation
- community stroke services
- social care
- voluntary sector support
- practical and emotional support during recovery
To share your experience, contact the Healthwatch team for your area:
- Healthwatch Staffordshire:
Or call 0800 051 8371 or email Healthwatch Staffordshire
- Healthwatch Stoke-on-Trent: 03303 130247 or email Healthwatch Stoke-on-Trent
Every experience shared will help Healthwatch understand where stroke care and support are working well and where improvements may be needed.
The findings will be brought together in a joint report. This will be shared with the organisations and decision-makers responsible for planning and providing services.
“People have told their local Healthwatch about receiving immediate treatment after a stroke, but we also want to hear about what happened after they left hospital and the support available in their community.
Every story helps us build a clearer picture of stroke recovery and identify opportunities to improve stroke care and support. By sharing experiences with service providers, we can help shape better services for people across our communities.”
