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A general view of medical equipment on a NHS hospital ward at Ealing Hospital in London
STROKE victims are being “failed every day” because of gaps in rehabilitation care caused by staffing shortages, experts have warned.
Patients’ chances of recovery are “limited” due to a lack of physiotherapists and other support staff, according to the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy (CSP) and the Association of Chartered Physiotherapists in Neurology (ACPIN).
National guidelines say people who have had a stroke should receive therapy-based rehabilitation for three hours a day, five days a week.
But the CSP and the ACPIN said data suggests that, on average, people receive rehab for only three to four days a week while in hospital and one to two days after they go home.
A national survey of stroke physiotherapists working in 159 NHS services across Britain also found workforce shortages across different aspects of stroke care.
These included community stroke services, acute stroke teams and community rehabilitation support.
ACPIN Adine Adonis warned the findings show “a stark and urgent gap in the number of physiotherapists and support staff available” for stroke survivors.
The Department of Health and Social Care has been approached for comment.
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