New figures from the Stroke Association reveal that the current annual cost of stroke to Scotland could be £1.6 billion. The UK’s leading stroke charity is warning that, without immediate action, this figure may almost triple to £4.6 billion by 2035.
The Stroke Association’s latest report, Current, future and avoidable costs of stroke, Part 2 (i) suggests that informal costs to families and carers have been significantly underestimated. The figures also predict that a growing population, increasing numbers of stroke survivors, and rising care costs are crucial factors behind the increasing financial burden of stroke over the next 20 years.
Andrea Cail, Director for the Stroke Association in Scotland, said: “Researchers now predict that in less than 20 years’ time, stroke could cost Scotland about £4.6 billion every year. With the number of people living with stroke set to soar, and the cost of the condition spiralling, we need radical changes to the way stroke is prioritised and delivered in Scotland.
“The majority of the vast financial burden caused by stroke is shouldered by thousands of families and carers, who give up everything, including their jobs, to look after loved ones whose lives are turned upside down in an instant by stroke. Stroke survivors without close family are left isolated, without the long-term support they desperately need. Stroke is the single biggest cause of adult disability in the UK and can leave people at any age unable to walk, speak, read or write.
“We need to change the story and find new ways to tackle stroke prevention and reduce disability in individuals. The Scottish Stroke Improvement Plan must continue to push for better health and better care to ease the strain on the NHS and improve the quality of life for those who have had a stroke and their carers. This will drive action to help more stroke survivors return to work, live independently, and take control of their lives again, while easing the enormous financial and emotional pressures that for too many family members face.
“Further funding for stroke research is also crucial. It may seem obvious that research is needed to help reduce these costs, but stroke research remains severely under-funded compared to other major health conditions. In the UK, for every person living with stroke, just £48 a year is spent on medical research compared to £118 for every dementia patient(ii). This simply isn’t acceptable: we must change the story for stroke.”
The study found that a sustained £60 million investment across a number of priority areas of stroke research in the UK could lead to an overall saving of up to £10 billion by 2035.
Professor Anita Patel, who led the research, said: “It is clear that informal carers make a huge contribution to stroke care, and that social care costs will increase substantially by 2035. There’s no doubt that this will present real societal challenges in future. However, our research findings also show that there is great potential to alleviate some of these costs through increased investment in research.”
The research was undertaken at Queen Mary University of London and London School of Economics, and was sponsored by Legal & General.
The Stroke Association’s Change The Story campaign aims to highlight the underfunding of stroke research and calls on people to donate to towards research funding. For more information about Change the Story and the report Current, future and avoidable costs of stroke in the UK (Part 2), visit www.stroke.org.uk/change
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