The Stroke Wellbeing Service provided by North Cumbria Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust has been given top marks in a survey of its users.
It is less than a year old and provides rapid assessment, treatment, rehabilitation and support to stroke patients struggling with cognitive or emotional health in the early days and weeks after stroke.
The service contacted 42 patients between June and January to ask their opinion of the care they had been given.
They were asked to rate their experiences on a scale of one to 10, with one being poor and 10 being excellent.
The trust said 71.4 per cent gave the service a score of 10 for it being beneficial, and 92.9 per cent gave a 10 and said staff were understanding, respectful and treated them with dignity.
It said 90.5 per cent gave a 10 and said they would recommend the service to others.
One patient said: “I cannot thank (SWS team member) enough for her patience and guidance that was given to be whilst being in hospital. She has given me strength to cope with the problems I have.”
Another said: ”I received excellent treatment from the Stroke Wellbeing Service. (SWS team member) helped me through my anxiety problems following my stroke. I now know how to control this with the methods suggested by them.
“I am very grateful for all their help and support during this traumatic time in my life.”
Clinical lead for neuropsychology and Stroke Wellbeing Service, Dr Sarah Fryer, said: “I think it is really important that this feedback be taken championed, despite significant difficulty at present.
“This is indicative of the impact a compassionate, highly skilled, well governed team and resource can have on patient care and experience.
“We continue to settle into our roles in the Stroke Wellbeing Service, having been up and running now for nine months.
“We recently completed an early audit of service running, and in response to this have increased our West Cumbria presence.
“We now run an outpatients clinic at the hospital and have a member of the team on the ward three days a week.
“We are grateful for the welcome and support that the ward based multi-disciplinary and early supported stroke discharge teams have given us.
“We continue to develop our joint working, and are working closer with our colleagues to share knowledge and experience.
“This has been positive for both staff and patients.
“We have all enjoyed recent training on cognitive impairment as well as acceptance and commitment therapy and continue to remain committed to widening our knowledge of therapeutic approaches.”
