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2 July 2012
Scrutiny Office Stroke Association Morier House Soroptimist House
St Helier 28 Pomona Road
St. Helier
JE1 1DD Jersey
JE2 3XL
Telephone: 01534 730227
Caring for each other, Caring for ourselves: Stroke Association White paper consultation response
Stroke Association is for life after stroke. We believe that everyone has the right to make the best possible recovery from stroke.
In Jersey we are working to raise awareness of stroke and how to prevent stroke. We provide Information, Advice and Support to people from hospital to community, and helping people to lead a life after stroke. We also fund vital research to progress stroke care and campaign on behalf of stroke survivors to improve stroke services.
Stroke Association is pleased to present views on how the proposals set out in the white paper might affect stroke survivors and Stroke Association as an organisation.
- We welcome the call for a redesign of services in Jersey. However Stroke is not given the priority it requires in the plans. Exact prevalence of stroke is not known although we believe around 125 people per year have a stroke on Jersey. With an increasing ageing population stroke will become an even more significant problem for islanders over the next 30 years.
- The planned stepped approach to health promotion seems to be inefficient. We would advocate for a comprehensive approach to health promotion rather than targeting specific issues in a staged manner. Lifestyle choice is a significant factor in the cause of stroke and other cardiovascular disease which islanders need to be made aware of and supported in. Cardiovascular diseases (such as stroke, heart disease and diabetes) are risk factors for one another and the lack reference to stroke or any other of the diseases in the consultation is of concern to Stroke Association.
- We welcome the idea of Community Wellbeing and Active Ageing and Wellbeing Centres, however we would call for the appropriate resource of staff with stroke specialist knowledge to provide support for stroke survivors with communication disability for example.
- Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) is a welcome focus in the plans. Stroke Association would like to ensure that there is a focus on stroke survivors and their carers as we know the psychological affects of stroke are far reaching and significant.
- We welcome the care navigator model of care proposed as we know that stroke survivors and carers value this support through statutory systems.
- We call for a change of culture in Health and Social Services with regard to the perception and involvement of the third sector in Jersey. Although the paper recognises the significant contribution the third sector can make, there are no plans for how that involvement will take place systematically, nor any mention of any statutory funding for vital services from the sector. The third sector should be recognised as a cost effective, responsive and innovative supplier of community services.
- We would like to see recognition that significant changes to best practice guidelines in stroke care in the UK (e.g. RCP, National Clinical Guidelines for Stroke and DoH Stroke Strategy, 2007) have led to better outcomes for people affected by stroke, and to see implementation of these best practice guidelines on Jersey.
Stroke Association would be pleased to join in further discussion around these observations and in particular the development of stroke care on Jersey.
Yours sincerely
Chairman Stroke Association - Jersey Committee