Ahead of World Stroke Day (29 October) the Stroke Association is calling on Scotland’s 14 Health Boards to take immediate action on implementing the Stroke Improvement Plan1 to address the emotional and psychological needs of stroke survivors.
The charity’s concerns comes after they made a Freedom of Information (FOI) request and found:
- Only 7.8 WTE Clinical/Neuropsychologists with protected time for stroke for the whole country.
In addition, the Scottish Stroke Care Audit2 revealed in June this year that:
- Not one health board is delivering specialised psychological care.
This information has come to light, following the publication of our “Keeping Stroke Recoveries in Mind” report in October last year3, which highlighted the unacceptable level of support for people struggling with the psychological consequences of stroke.
From our survey last year, we know that 94% of stroke survivors experienced a mild impact on their psychological wellbeing. For 39% of stroke survivors, the impact on their psychological impact was severe.
Over two thirds of those (68%) did not believe they were receiving the support they needed. There are over 128,000 stroke survivors in Scotland and 10,000 strokes per year.
Jen Paton, 39, from Paisley, had her stroke last April. Despite recovering well physically, her emotions were unbearable at times. She said: “I felt scared that I might have another stroke. I was worried about my children, then seven and eight years old. I lay in my bed alone, crying and crying.”
Even when Jen returned home, she couldn’t get out of bed, wouldn’t socialise, and felt panic-stricken even to visit her dad in hospital: “I felt hopeless, and life felt pointless.”
Jen’s stroke physician noticed the crushing psychological impact of her stroke and referred her to a psychologist.
Jen continued: “My psychologist was a god send. To have a name assigned to the way I had been feeling was such a relief. I was taught strategies to help with my panic attacks, and the information and advice I was given has helped me to accept the stroke and its effects.
“I got on well with my psychologist. She listened to me, and I felt like I could talk about all my emotions to her without hiding anything. She was a safe person to be with.”
Anxiety, depression, memory and thinking problems can all be part of the psychological consequences of stroke. It can rob someone of their ability to go back to work, socialise and stay in a relationship – never mind stripping someone of their confidence. Some people describe the psychological effects of stroke as worse than the physical effects.
Last year we called on the Scottish Government to include in its Stroke Improvement Plan a commitment to treat the psychological effects of stroke and physical effects of stroke with parity.
The charity also called for the Stroke Improvement Plan to include the implementation of the National Model of Psychological Services (NMPCS)4 for stroke in Scotland.
The National Model highlights the need to involve all staff working with people affected by stroke across the pathway to support patients dealing with the psychological consequences of stroke.
John Watson, Associate Director Scotland at the Stroke Association said: “The progress Health Boards are making to improve psychological services is too slow.
“And there is no escaping the fact that delivering the necessary emotional support for people affected by stroke will involve more investment in the workforce, both in recruitment and training.
“The inclusion of psychological support the new Stroke Plan, is an important step, but that aspiration is still a long way from becoming reality.”
The Stroke Association is calling for:
- Health Boards to deliver the National Model with dedicated support from the Scottish Government.
- Health Boards to ensure there is an appropriately trained workforce to enable Clinical Psychologists to lead on the implementation of psychological care.
- The development of an education and training programme for all staff involved in delivering stroke care.
John continued: “Stroke is a clinical priority in Scotland, and it needs to be treated as such. We will continue to champion the need for improvements in the way stroke psychological care is delivered in Scotland.
“We owe it to everyone affected by stroke to ensure they get the right support to rebuild their life after stroke.”
