Stroke HIT 2023-24

The Stroke HIT aims to help prevent strokes and improve the lives of people affected by stroke, by bringing together expertise from clinicians, commissioners, academics, care and support providers and other healthcare professionals, as well as patients, their families and carers. Here are some of the highlights from the HIT in 2023-24.

5th July 2024

Providing training and education

Training and education both for people who have had a stroke and those who work in stroke services, has been a focus for the Stroke HIT this year.

On 15 November the HIT organised a free, all day event at the University of the West of England (UWE Bristol) where more than 60 attendees learned more about supporting patients to return to work following a stroke. The event was co-funded by UWE Bristol and Sirona’s Integrated Community Stroke Service (ICSS).

One knowledge gap identified during the day was how to apply for benefits payments. This has now led to a new initiative, supported by the HIT, in which North Bristol Advice Centre will train Bristol After Stroke volunteers to provide welfare benefits advice to people who have had a stroke.

Monthly Life After Stroke learning sessions delivered by Bristol After Stroke, aimed at people affected by stroke, continue to be successful and well attended. Thirty people join each call on average, with more than 300 previous attendees on the mailing list. A full programme has run throughout the year and is continuing into 2024.

Following feedback from people with lived experience, the HIT is co-creating a video resource to support UWE Bristol students on placement or conducting research with people affected by stroke. It aims to help students to improve their communication and empathetic skills when working with patients and research participants, and will also be relevant for those working with people who have other health conditions.

Involving people with lived experience in improving services

Changes to stroke services, designed and agreed through the Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire (BNSSG) Stroke Improvement Programme with input from the HIT, are bedding in. Ambulances taking people in the region to hospital with a suspected stroke now go to the centre of excellence for stroke care at Southmead Hospital, a move which should lead to equality of access to the best care for people across the region.

The Stroke HIT will continue to be integral to the ongoing improvement of services, ensuring the voice of stroke survivors is heard through its Lived Experience Group.

Members of the Group attend monthly in-hospital and community Stroke Cafes for patients, families and carers, to provide information and gather feedback on stroke services. They talk to patients about the rehab they are receiving, how stroke has affected them, how they have experienced stroke and cope at home, what they should expect from the discharge process and try to answer questions about living with stroke.

Funding enabled in 2023-24

The Stroke HIT helped secure £68,000 in 2023-24 for projects to generate research evidence, improve outcomes and address health inequalities.