The development and monitoring of the stroke service is overseen by the Stroke Working Group. This took over from the Stroke HImP (Health Improvement Programme) Group and is a sub-group of the local implementation team (LIT) of the National Service Framework Older People, in which Standard 5 sets standards and targets for the care and treatment of people who have a stroke.
Strokewatch is represented on the Stroke Working Group, and on several of the following sub-groups which have recently been established:
1. Multi-disciplinary documentation
2. Operational management
3. TIA Rapid Assessment Service
4. Audit - data collection and monitoring
5. Primary and secondary prevention
6. Users and carers and voluntary organisations
7. Training, education and research
We are reporting on Sub-group 7 - for Users, Carers and Voluntary Organisations - in the March 2002 Newsletter and will report on the work of the other sub-groups in future issues. Strokewatch is jointly taking the lead in the Users, Carers and Voluntary Organisations Sub-group. We hope that one of the initiatives of this sub-group will be to hold an annual convention or workshop for stroke survivors and carers, where they can discuss their experiences and hear about how the service is developing.
We are greatly indebted to Dinah Fuller, Nurse Consultant Stroke and Intermediate Care for the information on this page. We have regular contact with Dinah, and we are also arranging regular meetings with Johanne Evans, Head of Therapy in the Community Trust, and with Phil Davis, East Hull PCT and Carrie Woolerton, Yorkshire Wolds and Coast PCT. Through these contacts we hope that we will be able to continue to keep up with developments in the stroke service, and to ensure that the feedback we receive from stroke patients and carers can be followed up with the people who are in a position to put things right if necessary or at least explain the position to us.
In these ways we can go on making a small but important contribution to the continuous monitoring and improvement of the service.
Dilys Page
Secretary, Strokewatch
22 March 2002