We worked closely with the Stroke Association in Wales to make sure that the views of stroke survivors and carers were taken into account when drafting the Quality Statement for Stroke. The expertise and insight provided by the Stroke Association means I am confident we will be able to give people affected by stroke in Wales the help they need to live the best lives they can.
Niki Turner, Allied Health Professional Lead for Stroke in Wales
Stroke is a leading cause of adult death and disability in the UK. But far too many people don't get the treatment and care they need.
Throughout 2021-22:
- Wales: We worked closely with the Welsh Government and the Welsh Clinical Lead on Stroke, Dr Shakeel Ahmad, on the development of the new Quality Statement on Stroke.
- NI: We engaged with the political parties in Northern Ireland ahead of the May 2022 Assembly elections, leading to two parties pledging to push for progress with stroke reform in their election manifesto. Our lobbying also led to the Northern Ireland Government publishing a stroke action plan in June.
- Scotland: We raised the political priority of stroke during the elections in Scotland in 2021. We’ve also been heavily involved in the development of the Scottish Government’s Progressive Stroke Pathway, published in March 2022. We established and supported a new Cross-Party Group on Stroke in the Scottish Parliament, to help ensure these plans become actions.
- England: We worked with NHS England to develop the National Stroke Service Model (NSSM) - the blueprint for what stroke services should be available for every person affected by stroke. We strengthened relationships with the new stroke networks in England, helping them to implement national stroke policy and involve stroke survivors in improving services. We welcomed a new All-Party Parliamentary Group on Stroke in Westminster.
- We completed our James Lind Alliance Stroke Priority Setting Programme - the first UK-wide project to map research priorities across the entire stroke care and treatment pathway. We’ve shared our findings at leading international conferences, which is helping us to develop funding partnerships.
- We’ve funded nine pilot research awards in partnership with the Small Business Research Initiative. We invested £90,000 and leveraged over £800,000, with more large-scale funding to come in 2022-23.
- We have a new funding partnership with National Institute for Health and Care Research. We’ve committed £250,000 and expect to leverage £1.2-2.2 million in the next five years.
- We funded two post-graduates and four postdoctoral fellows to help them take the next steps in their stroke research careers.
- Research projects include a study into why people who begin having seizures late in life are more likely to go on to have a stroke, and a test for a potential new treatment for arm weakness.
- ‘Save Research. Rebuild Lives’ raised awareness of the negative impact of the pandemic on research funding of stroke research and raised over £256,000.
- At ‘Amazing Brains’, our flagship research event in May 2021, we had a very special talk between two inspiring stroke survivors: one of the faces of our ‘Save Research. Rebuild Lives’ campaign, Ronnie Staton, and Olympic world champion sprinter, Michael Johnson.
- On ITV’s Emmerdale, popular character Marlon Dingle, played by actor Mark Charnock, had a stroke. We worked closely with the Emmerdale team, involving stroke survivors, stroke consultants and teams across the charity, to help them to make the story as realistic and authentic as possible. This collaboration has given us some exceptional media coverage, with over 430 pieces so far.