‘After a stroke, people still have agency and self-esteem’

An integrated approach to treating instances of stoke across Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire has been launched. The Stroke Health Integration Team will work to join up local partners with the local clinical commissioning group (CCG), all with the aim of preventing strokes and improving the lives of the  1,300 people affected by stroke in the region each year.

A launch event for the new approach took place at Circomedia‘s St Paul’s hub and connected local people in recovery from strokes with members of the health service, private companies and charities including Bristol After Stroke. Along with sharing information about their work, they discussed the best ways of tackling a health issue which can be prevented with better understanding of pre-stroke symptoms and the management of high blood pressure.

“This integrated approach is about recognising that by working together and bringing together university research and practicing clinicians, you can learn, develop and inform in a way that that is harder to do individually, or less complete when done in isolation,” said Richard Lyle, associate director os service redesign at Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire CCG. “Here we’ve got private sector companies, tech companies, charities, the health service, all focussed around one subject, but all bringing a different thing to the table. It’s good. People are a bit more open-minded about that permeable boundary.”

Richard’s team has been working on a revised strategy for stroke treatment in the area for several years, with a plan to start making changes to the current system in 2020. Ideas include centralising services to make stroke surgeries available around the clock, and addressing imbalances in the care that is available across the region, to ensure that everyone can be supported back into their home or a rehabilitation setting with the right professional advice and therapy.

“We think we can improve services,” Richard said. “There’s some good evidence nationally, regionally and locally that if we did things differently, services would improve.”

The launch was also an opportunity to watch two short films made by Chris Rawlence. The first featured local people who have experienced stroke, including boxer Dan Sarkozi who lives in Easton. He was just 28 and in peak physical fitness when he had a stroke at his boxing gym, caused by a previously undiagnosed hole in his heart. The second film focussed on Rosetta Life, a national organisation helping people living with life-limiting conditions to express themselves and discover their identities through the arts. Their show Stroke Odysseys is currently on a UK tour, visiting Bristol on November 16.

“The films give these people voice, and  show anybody watching that, post-stroke, people have agency, they have self-esteem, they regain a sense of identity,” Chris said. “Those are the sort of things that can be threatened and tend to vanish in the post-stoke situation, but through the films they can be affirmed and asserted.

Find out more about the Stroke Health Integration Team at www.bristolhealthpartners.org.uk/health-integration-teams/stroke-hit. Stroke Odysseys from Rosetta Life is on at Circomedia on Friday, November 16.