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Care Quality Commission Review January 2011

Connect welcomes this comprehensive and well-researched review which highlights the variability of services for people with stroke and aphasia (communication disability) across the country.

However, the review clearly recognises that the needs of people with aphasia (one in three of people with stroke) are not being met in all areas and that urgent steps must be taken to urge providers of services to redress the imbalance in service provision.

We are pleased that it is recognised that the best services are those which are patient-centred. This is where there is engagement with the person with stroke and their carers and family, taking account of their choices and needs. Regrettably, in over a third of areas people with aphasia are not being consulted.

The review highlights that over 60% of services do not have a system of joint review partnership between health and social care services, a much-needed requirement in our view.

The review identifies a huge disparity between services offered to people with aphasia and those with physical disability. Half of social services are unable to signpost people with aphasia to community-based services which are designed specifically for their disability, although three quarters of service providers can signpost people with stroke to services designed to help them with physical disabilities. Around 60% of areas do not provide training to relevant staff about communicating with people with aphasia or provide information in relevant formats. Crucially, 35% of areas do not involve people with aphasia in the design and delivery of services.

Sally McVicker, Connect’s Director of Services said ‘This review shows that in many areas of the country providers of services are not meeting the needs of people with aphasia. They are being unjustly excluded. But the report also shows that some areas are successfully including, involving and providing for people with aphasia.  We believe this disparity can be overcome by implementing tried and tested service models. Our experience shows that training people with aphasia and volunteers to run their own support and activities, based on what they themselves have designed and developed, is a cost-effective way to provide community-based services which successfully meet their needs. In the emerging ‘Big Society’ commissioners should seize this opportunity to make this happen for vulnerable groups such as those with aphasia’.

Download the full review here Care Quality Commission Review

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