National Stroke Strategy

Baroness Masham of Ilton Excerpts

Wednesday 18th November 2015 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Masham of Ilton (CB)]

My Lords, I thank the noble Baroness, Lady Wheeler, for securing this important debate.

It is said that when stroke strikes, it affects everyone who loves that person. How true this is. Every three and a half minutes someone in the UK has a stroke. Some time ago my late husband had a stroke while sitting in his armchair watching cricket on the TV. I was in the room on the telephone and I noticed immediately what was happening. When the ambulance came he did not want to be disturbed from the cricket. I followed in my car, and when I got to the hospital I was left in his room with a young student nurse from South Africa. The questions on the admission form were so inappropriate that she gave up trying to fill it in. The student nurse and I undressed him, and as soon as we got his pyjamas on, we had to change them. I had to show the nurse how to roll him, as he was a big man. When I left his room I found a charge nurse and a female chatting at the nurses’ station. Why the male nurse did not come to help remains a mystery to this day. My husband was admitted in the middle of the morning; by evening he had not been seen by a consultant and no treatment had been given, nor had he had a scan. In desperation I telephoned the chairman of the hospital, who I knew, and she got the consultant, who was in his house, to visit.

That experience is why it is so important to have a national stroke strategy and to update it in 2017, when the present 10-year plan ends. I am pleased that owing to the strategy, treatment has got better, but it is still patchy across the country. Some stroke treatment is excellent but some can still be improved. Stroke is one of the top three causes of death and the largest cause of adult disability in England, costing the NHS over £3 billion. My noble friend Lord Kakkar said that it is £9 billion, so perhaps it has risen. Some people do not know that young people and even babies also have strokes.

Prevention is so important. Atrial fibrillation can cause strokes. Automatic arrhythmia detection loop monitors will greatly improve the detection of AF. At a screening last week for AF, several of your Lordships were picked up as having AF, which shows how important screening is.

When someone has a stroke, you must act fast. At the debate on AF in your Lordships’ House recently I stressed that there is a need to have first aid taught in schools so that many lives can be saved by people who know and have confidence to help save lives in threatening circumstances. Little did I know that there is currently a Bill in another place on first aid in schools, presented by Teresa Pearce MP. I hope that it succeeds.

The streamlining of specialist services with specially trained staff, which has saved lives and money, needs to continue as we build upon the improvements in acute care. This can only be pushed through at a national level.

Post-acute care, where the most serious problems persist, is where many survivors and their families are not getting the help that they need. This has to be improved. Some people do not have family support and have to rely on carers and a variety of help. It is worrying that, with the cuts to local authorities, services such as Meals on Wheels are being reduced or cut. All those providing care services, including volunteers, should work in collaboration. We must improve the service.