From Summer 2022, Manchester Local Care Organisation (MLCO) will launch the new model of Community Stroke and Neuro Rehabilitation across South and Central Manchester.

The services help to rehabilitate patients (aged 18 or over) who have experienced a stroke or neurological conditions for example Parkinson’s Disease, Multiple Sclerosis and Brain Injury. The services are provided within community settings or the person’s home.

Funded by Manchester Health and Care Commissioning, the enhanced services will ensure that individuals referred have access to the same level of specialist care no matter where they live.

Nationally it is estimated that 14.7 million people[1] are living with a neurological condition. In addition, a staggering 900 people[2] a year are estimated to experience a stroke in our city of Manchester. It also remains the leading cause of disability with over eight thousand stroke survivors currently known to us. Therefore, it is essential that we have the right rehabilitation support in place to help individuals and their families recover and lead more independent lives.

Tracy Walker, LCO Lead Allied Health Professional for North Manchester Community Services and Clinical Director (Community) for Greater Manchester Neurorehabilitation and Integrated Stroke Delivery Network said:

“Over the past few years there’s been significant work to improve and standardise the acute and community stroke and neuro rehabilitation care pathways. This is where all patients, regardless of where they live in Greater Manchester receive the same high standard of care. However, across the city some discharged patients were still experiencing a ‘postcode lottery’ when accessing community stroke and neuro rehabilitation, as the services were working across the city in isolation, all with different models of rehabilitation and resources available.

Therefore, this is an exciting time for us here in Manchester. The investment has enabled us to expand upon our workforce capacity, so that we can respond to referrals in timelier manner – removing the ‘patchy provision’ that was in place. No one deserve to miss out on care, so this will make a huge difference.”

 

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[1] Based on the number of Stroke admissions (HRG: AA35) per year reported in SUS

[2] https://www.neural.org.uk/assets/pdfs/neuro-numbers-2019.pdf