‘Urgent motion’ wanted as strokes value the UK almost £250,000 each 5 minutes
EXCLUSIVE: Research from The Stroke Association found that every five minutes – the frequency with which someone has a stroke – the cost to the taxpayer is £244,600, nearly the price of a house
The cost of supporting people with strokes is set to skyrocket(Image: Getty)
The cost of supporting people with strokes is set to skyrocket within the next decade unless urgent action is taken to improve diagnosis and treatment, a new report has warned.
Strokes currently cost UK taxpayers £25.7billion a year or £70.4million a day, with over half of this spent on social care.
Research from The Stroke Association (SA) found this equates to £244,600 every five minutes – the frequency with which someone has a stroke.
With people living longer, the charity says without streamlining the process of diagnosis, treatment and rehabilitation, the cost of strokes will increase by 40% to £35.9billion a year by 2035.
The brain injury caused by stroke can leave survivors having to relearn basics such as being able to walk, talk or swallow. Around a third of stroke survivors also experience depression.
Despite this, new figures from the Sentinel Stroke National Audit Programme (SSNAP) show that only 7% of stroke patients get the amount of rehabilitation set out by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence.
Instead of the recommended three hours a day five days a week, their data shows that the average amount of hospital rehabilitation a stroke survivor receives is just 40 minutes per day.
Mum of two Adebisi Desalu-Odiase, 36, from Bedford became a carer for her husband Alex when he had a stroke in 2022. She said: “I lost myself for the year of Alex’s stroke and it took a long time to recover.
“Everything changes after a stroke. Our time together became about me being his carer, and I also took on all the family responsibilities. There is no ‘i’ in stroke – medically, it happens to just one person, but it affects the whole family.”
Alex added: “The moment people understand that each stroke is different, it makes everything else easy. It’s not the same for everybody.
“There needs to be a level of grace to people like myself. I am trying to get better. I hope to get better. People just need to understand that it’s not the same anymore.”
The pair are now finalising a book about Alex’s stroke and the impact it had on their family, to be released at the end of the month.
The SA is now calling on the Government to treat stroke as a major health, research, social care and economic priority.
Juliet Bouverie OBE, CEO of the SA, said: “The brain injury caused by stroke changes a person’s life in an instant with far-reaching repercussions for both themselves and their loved ones.
“It is the leading cause of adult disability, and survivors must get the right intensity and frequency of rehabilitation for as long as they need, alongside emotional support, to make the best possible recovery.
“This simply isn’t happening so the cost of stroke is extortionate and, as our report illustrates, this is only going to get worse.”
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “Hundreds of people every day suffer a stroke, and the NHS is working hard to get them the rapid support and long-term rehabilitation they will often require.
“In our 10-Year Health Plan last year, we pledged to reduce premature mortality from heart disease and stroke by a quarter within a decade, and our Cardiovascular Disease Modern Service Framework, published in July, aims to accelerate that progress.
“The NHS is also working to increase the delivery of thrombolysis and thrombectomy rates as a key intervention to support improved outcomes in patients who have had a stroke.”
