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'More speech and language therapy needed' for stroke patients

Monday 6th April 2009

Stroke patients are not receiving sufficient contact with speech and language therapists, it has been claimed.

According to the findings of a recent survey, only one quarter of patients at stroke units had any contact with such a therapist, with the median contact time being 30 minutes.

Commenting on the findings, Dr Tony Rudd, stroke programme director at the Royal College of Physicians and joint author of the study, said: "This survey highlights how much needs to be done to achieve high quality care on stroke units in England."

The research also found that 75 per cent of patients get less than four hours and 11 minutes of nursing input every 24 hours, while a quarter get less than one-and-a-half hours each day.

Meanwhile, Scottish Labour leader Iain Gray recently called for more Parkinson's disease nurse specialists to be employed in Scotland.

He said that more than one in three people with the condition have never received treatment from a physiotherapist.

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