With all the publicity around the coronavirus, it is easy to forget that there are other serious health conditions that cause death and disability. As a Partnership we continue to remind the public that the NHS continues to be ‘Still here for you’ during the coronavirus outbreak and we urge people not to ignore signs and symptoms that could be potentially life changing and life threatening.
Stroke is the largest cause of disability in the UK and the fourth biggest killer. In West Yorkshire and Harrogate, around 3000 people a year have a stroke with two thirds of stroke survivors left with some form of physical, mental or emotional disability – often completely life changing. During the first wave of the pandemic, many people with medical emergencies were reluctant to hospital and may have missed out on life changing treatment.
Knowing the signs of a stroke is key and people need to Act F.A.S.T. if they or someone close
to them experience the following:
Every second of delay, perhaps through calling a GP practice to make an appointment, may lead to further loss of brain cells and reduce the chances of survival or avoiding disability.
Prabal K Datta, Stroke Consultant at The Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust and Lead Clinician for the West Yorkshire and Harrogate Integrated Stroke Delivery Network said
“Since the start of the pandemic our experience shows that many people have remained at home with stroke symptoms. I strongly want to remind people that stroke services across the whole of West Yorkshire and Harrogate have been fully operational throughout the pandemic and continue to be so. I urge people not to delay seeking emergency medical attention for a fear of coming into hospital and contracting COVID – 19.”
Robert Minton-Taylor, stroke survivor, who receives his care and treatment in West Yorkshire, said
“If you have had a stroke you should never worry about calling an ambulance and going into hospital. There is a four-hour window for thrombolysis treatment between the first signs of a stroke and successful recovery from one.”
“If you have a stroke it is critically important that you get to a hospital right away because it could save your life. Men don’t like complaining or making a fuss. We can be as stubborn as mules. I thought I had cramp and took myself off to bed thinking a night’s sleep would cure it. Fortunately, my wife, a former nurse, noticed that the left side of my mouth was drooping and rushed me to hospital. I was told the following day that had I left it an hour longer I may have died.”
Testimonies from other stroke survivors in West Yorkshire and Harrogate include Sidney who received emergency stroke treatment and continues to receive ongoing rehabilitation is full of praise for the entire workforce. He said
“the nurses that I have had, have been absolutely brilliant and the Doctors were brilliant as well. The staff made me feel comfortable and were good with my wife and were good at keeping in contact with her. I am still recovering from my stroke , I still have trouble with my speech and my left hand, but the speech and language therapists and the physio who are coming are brilliant”.
As they reflected on the experience and the opportunity to share their gratitude Sidney and Christine his wife said
“The ambulance drivers that brought me in were brilliant” and ”I just want to say thank you, everybody especially the ambulance team were so good to him”
The Integrated Stroke Delivery Network are looking to recruit a group chair, deputy chair and approximately 15 patient and carer representatives, who have experience of living with or caring for someone affected by stroke, to form a stroke patient and carer assurance group.
Providing the best stroke services possible across West Yorkshire and Harrogate to further improve quality and stroke outcomes is a priority for us all and something we are committed to achieving through the work that has been taking place across West Yorkshire and Harrogate and in each of our six local areas (Bradford District and Craven; Calderdale, Harrogate, Kirklees, Leeds and Wakefield.)
Stroke is a life changing event and evidence shows the care people receive in the first few hours can make a difference to how well they recover. This includes having specialist scans to assess the nature of the stroke and if appropriate receive clot-busting drugs (thrombolysis) and clot removing treatment called thrombectomy.
Our work is all about:
The NHS Long Term Plan (2019) highlighted stroke as a national clinical priority, with an ambition to impr
ove stroke care along the whole of the pathway, from the onset of stroke, urgent and acute care, rehabilitation and life after stroke. Aligned to the NHS Long Term Plan (2019) the West Yorkshire and Harrogate Integrated Stroke Delivery Network has been established, to enable services to work more closely together and share best practice, with the aim of delivering the best care possible for the people of West Yorkshire and Harrogate.
We know that a stroke can have a devastating impact on a person's life, as well as their family members. Establishing what service users, their families and carers, feel and experience about stroke care is very important to us. If you would like to share your experiences or be more involved in the work of the Integrated Stroke Delivery Network, please click on the link below. Apply to become a West Yorkshire and Harrogate Integrated Stroke Delivery Network Patient and Carer Assurance Group Representative
Keeping everyone updated on the work to further improve stroke care for people across West Yorkshire and Harrogate has been a priority to the Partnership and will continue to be so.
Since our engagement and conversations with staff, partners and the public began in February 2017, we have continually kept people updated throughout to try and ensure everyone had the opportunity to have their say on the development of the work.
On Tuesday 6 November 2018 a report was presented to the West Yorkshire and Harrogate Joint Committee of Clinical Commissioning Groups (meeting in public), to provide members with an overview of stroke care and progress so far. This included the conclusions and the infomation considered to inform this process, recommendations and next steps. You can read the final report here.
The final decision from the Joint Committee of Clinical Commissiinong Groups concludes the West Yorkshire and Harrogate Stroke Programme work on hyper actute stroke services. However, it is important to note that our conversations with people across the area have highlighted the importance of further improving care from prevention, hospital stroke care, community rehabilitation services, through to after care. These conversations will continue in the six local areas (Bradford District and Craven, Calderdale, Harrogate, Kirklees, Leeds and Wakefield) which make up West Yorkshire and Harrogate as appropriate.
Your views are important to us and we would like to thank everyone for their involvement on the West Yorkshire and Harrogate stroke care work. You can find out how your views have shaped our work by reading the 'You said, we did' (click here). You can also find out about all the engagement that has taken place by clicking here.
Following the conclusion of the WY&H stroke programme work on hyper acute services you can read the letter sent to all stakeholders informing them of the decision made by the Joint Committee of Clinical Commssioning groups.
This information has been produced to give you an update on West Yorkshire and Harrogate (WY&H) stroke care work. Keeping everyone updated is an important part of our work. We want to keep you regularly updated so that you have the opportunity to discuss developments as they progress.
Since the previous update in February 2018 there has been lots of activity in order to progress the WY&H stroke care work. Following the workshop that took place on 2 February 2018 we scheduled further workshops in each of our six local areas (Bradford District and Craven, Calderdale, Harrogate. Kirklees, Leeds and Wakefield) which took place during the week commencing 26 March 2018. The sessions included health care professionals, community organisations and people who have experienced stroke.
A further workshop also took place on 30 May 2018. The aim of the workshop was to seek people's views on our work to date and gain their views on the development of a decision making criteria for specialist stroke services to further inform next steps.
You can read more about the workshops and what people told us here.
We have also continued to work closely with our partners, stakeholders, community and voluntary organisations, clinical experts and our staff to inform our work and have provided regular updates to the WY&H Joint Committee (held in public) and the Joint Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee (JHOSC), the WY&H Patient and Public Involvement (PPI) Assurance Group.
You can read more about what people have told us and what WY&H stroke programme has progressed to date 'you said, we did'.
You can also read how the public health needs assessment has informed our work.
You can also view the stroke report presented to West Yorkshire and Harrogate Joint Committee of the 9 Clinical Commissioning Groups on the 5 June 2018 here.
This information has been produced to give you an update on West Yorkshire and Harrogate stroke care work so far.
Keeping everyone updated is an important part of our work. We want to keep you regularly updated so that you have the opportunity to discuss developments as they progress. Please see attached the draft timelines for the coming months work. Please note these are subject to change.
West Yorkshire and Harrogate stroke care event 2 February 2018
Over 50 health and social care professionals, community organisations, councillors, people who have experienced stroke and carers attended an event organised by West Yorkshire and Harrogate Health and Care Partnership (WY&H HCP) in Bradford on Friday 2 February 2018. The event builds on the public engagement work from February and March 2017, and a clinical summit in May 2017, where consultants, doctors and other health care professionals came together to consider how they could further improve stroke care across the area. You can view the slides here and read the report from the event here.
This information has been produced to give you an update on West Yorkshire and Harrogate stroke care work so far.
Keeping everyone updated is an important part of our work. We want to keep you regularly updated so that you have the opportunity to discuss developments as they progress. You can also view the stroke report presented to West Yorkshire and Harrogate Joint Committee of the 11 Clinical Commissioning Groups on the 7 November 2017 and 4 July 2017 here.
The Yorkshire & Humber Academic Health Science Network (AHSN) is proud to partner with West Yorkshire and Harrogate, Health and Care Partnership in the delivery of an Atrial Fibrillation (AF) programme which is all about reducing the number of strokes people have across the area.
AF causes a fast and erratic heartbeat which is a major factor of stroke. The work is about detecting and treating people who are at risk of stroke so that around 9 in 10 people with AF are managed by GPs with the best local treatments, saving lives and delivering efficiencies too.
AHSN are also working closely with Right Care and the British Heart Foundation
to ensure the support they give is evidence based and delivers the best health care outcomes possible.
The work also highlights the importance of further improving awareness of the signs and symptoms of stroke.
The West Yorkshire and Harrogate programme involves the 11 clinical commissioning groups across the area. The AHSN will support 80 general practices to improve the care people receive across the area, saving a minimum of 190 strokes, over the next 3 years.
The intractable problem of irregular heart rhythm causes real problems. Every year, one in 20 people with AF will have a stroke. For every five people with AF that have a stroke, two will die, two will have to go into a care home and only one will return to their own home.
The AHSN has previously worked with West Yorkshire and Harrogate through the Heathy Futures Collaborative. In 2015, the collaborative created a commissioning strategy to improve care for people known to have AF. This successful strategy has benefitted 8,094 patients and is calculated to be preventing around 200 strokes a year.
