"I feel very badly let down"

Dear Slight357

thanks for your comment, I will call you, and then update on PO following this call.

Thank you for taking the time to contribute to patient opinion. As a team we do value feedback.

We noticed your post and thought you may be interested to hear about the work of the Stroke Association and how we may be able to support you. Stroke Association is the leading charity in the UK changing the world for people affected by stroke. Unfortunately we do not have your telephone number to call you so we hope this message reaches you.

Our Stroke Helpline is there for anyone who has been affected by stroke in any way. You may want to know more about stroke and its effects, be looking for practical information and support, or simply someone to talk to. The Stroke Helpline is open Monday to Friday from 9am to 5pm on 0303 30 33 100. You can also email us at info@stroke.org.uk. We also have a range of services across the UK, providing information, advice and support to stroke survivors and their families. You can find out if there is a service in your area parent’s by contacting the Helpline.

We were sorry to hear of your stroke and that you feel let down by your aftercare after your stroke. It sounds as though the hospital is willing to look into your concerns but if you are still unhappy, it may be helpful to contact the Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS). PALS is an independent organisation, there to ensure that the NHS listens to patients, their relatives, carers and friends, answers their questions and resolves their concerns as quickly as possible. You can telephone PALS at Nottingham University Hospitals on 0800 183 0204 or email them at pals@nuh.nhs.uk

Finally, you can also find lots of information about stroke on our website at www.stroke.org.uk. You can read about our services, read or listen to other people’s experiences and download all of our publications free of charge. There is news about our campaigns to improve services for stroke survivors, national and local events and our research programmes. You can also join the Talkstroke discussion group where you can share your experiences with other people who have been affected by stroke.

I hope that this is helpful and that you are now getting the support that you need to make the best recovery possible.

Stroke Information Service

info@stroke.org.uk

Stroke Association staff are not medically trained and the information provided does not replace information given to you by your own healthcare provider.

Dear sleight357 thank you for taking the time to talk with me about your experience of the community stroke team.

I now understand that you had written your comments several weeks ago, at which time you were transferring from Stroke Outreach Service (SOS) to the community stroke team. Keen to continue the progress you had made, you were understandably concerned that any delay in receiving our service may hinder your recovery.

I am pleased to hear that you have since accessed physiotherapy as an out-patient, and have recently been referred back to us for your on-going rehabilitation.

We are aware of the importance of a timely handover from the stroke outreach service and strive to make this as seamless as possible. Unfortunately we did have a high demand for the service at the time of your handover, and I am sorry that the time for you to be seen was longer than we would have liked. We have recruited a locum physiotherapist to help us cover staff shortfall. How we address capacity and demand when we have reduced staffing in the team is something I will discuss with management and our quality improvement lead.

Thank you for your kind words about Margaret. I will make sure she is made aware of your comments.

Thank you again for sharing your story. The team does really value feedback.

Dear Slight357

We did recruit a locum physiotherapist and this did help with timely handover from the SOS service. More recently we have have met with the SOS team to look at how we can work more closely together and make the handover to our service as seamless as possible. As a result of this we have changed our referral form.

regards

Chris