New stroke service to provide hospital care for Sandwell and Birmingham patients at home

The Integrated Community Stroke Service (ICSS) will mean inpatients who meet a certain criteria, are discharged earlier from hospital and given the intensive rehabilitation needed to get them back on their feet in the comfort of their home.

Delivered at Sandwell and West Birmingham NHS Trust, which runs Sandwell, City and Rowley Regis Hospitals, the initiative aims to reduce hospital stays, freeing up beds and streamlining the patient journey.

Clair Finnemore, therapy lead for Stroke Services, said: “When a patient comes into hospital following a stroke they will be assessed and given rehabilitation on our wards until they are fit to be discharged. Once home they would then receive rehab.

“However, the new service will allow us to discharge patients earlier, if they have the right care package in place, and also provide the intensive stroke specialist rehab they would have received in hospital.

“The team is made up of occupational therapists, physiotherapists, nurses, speech and language therapists, and dietitians with access to psychology, orthotics and our outpatient services for spasticity management and functional electrical stimulation.

“All will work closely with social care and GPs to ensure the patient receives the right care.

“The ICSS means we can provide a home-first model of care for all stroke patients who can return home safely with appropriate support and rehabilitation, reducing the average length of stay in hospital.”

Clair added: “It provides a seamless transition of care from acute to non-acute inpatient or domiciliary services with the same level of stroke multi-disciplinary team (MDT) expertise.”