A ‘Life After Stroke’ support service—which was axed in budget cuts by the local council on the Isle of Wight, UK two years ago—is being revived thanks to a new funding agreement between National Health Service (NHS) Hampshire and Isle of Wight and the Stroke Association.
When the service originally closed in March 2023, it had helped more than 3,000 stroke survivors on the island to “live their best possible life” after stroke, working with them and their families to set and support their recovery goals, and preventing them from having to “face the future alone”. That is according to a Stroke Association press release.
The service is now set to be revived in April 2025—a move welcomed by 74-year-old stroke survivor Chris Messer, who had backed the campaign to save it.
The Stroke Association helped Chris and his wife Joeley with information on his fatigue and headaches after stroke, diabetes, and problems with memory and thinking, as well as practical matters like post-stroke driving and where to go for help with financial assistance.
Chris, a musician who lives in Winford, UK, said: “This is marvellous news for anyone on the island who is unfortunate enough to have a stroke and need support. Someone will be there for them.
“The treatment I received at St Mary’s Hospital in Newport was excellent but, once I came home, Joeley and I would have had real difficulty coping without the Stroke Association. You have a massive stroke, you go through the hospital and then you’re released, and you’re on your own and you feel lost. You don’t know what the next step is without the Stroke Association.”
The Stroke Association notes in its recent release that, due to an ageing population on the island, the number of people living with the lasting effects of stroke on the Isle of Wight is roughly 50% higher than the national average in the UK.
The reinstatement of the Life After Stroke service is part of an agreement that ensures stroke survivors across the whole area covered by NHS Hampshire and Isle of Wight have access to support from the charity. This partnership ensures that, once survivors have received acute care and rehabilitation, they receive Life After Stroke care supporting their independence, linking them into the NHS as well as other care and assistance they need, and helping to prevent the risk of them having further strokes.
NHS Hampshire and Isle of Wight has agreed to commission the Stroke Association to offer a service across the region from 1 April 2025, building on the success of a support service that NHS Hampshire and Isle of Wight has already been funding in other areas of Hampshire.
Garry Jopling, the Stroke Association’s service delivery lead for the Southwest and Channel Islands in the UK, commented: “Thanks to the support of the local NHS, more than 3,500 people survive a stroke every year in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, but surviving a stroke is just the start of a long and sometimes lifelong recovery journey. Our specialist teams support stroke survivors and their families to find the strength and determination they need to find their way back to life.
“We’re incredibly grateful that, despite the extreme financial pressures facing the NHS, they are prioritising the need for support. It ends the inequitable situation where stroke survivors in some areas are offered support while, in others, they’re not. We will be talking with local health teams across Hampshire and the Isle of Wight to agree how the service should be tailored to meet the needs of each community in the longer term.”
