8. To ask the Scottish Government what support is in place to assist people who have had a stroke with their recovery and in becoming as independent as possible. (S5O-00774)

Stroke remains a clinical priority for the national health service in Scotland and the Scottish Government. The Scottish Government recognises the importance of recovery from stroke. The Scottish Government’s stroke improvement plan, which was published in August 2014, includes priorities on supporting self-management and rehabilitation.

It is up to individual NHS boards to deliver the level of stroke services that is required in their area, which depends on local and individual need. Boards are responsible for delivering stroke care services via their stroke managed clinical networks. The Scottish stroke improvement team supports managed clinical networks in implementing local action plans to improve the delivery of stroke care across Scotland.

Chest Heart & Stroke Scotland has raised concerns that national health service provision of rehabilitation for people who are recovering from strokes and who have a long-term condition often ends far too soon and that, when they return home, such people are left without vital on-going support. What will the Scottish Government do to ensure that, across Scotland, a consistent pathway of rehabilitation is available from the NHS through to community support?

We are seeing improvements across the country, but we will always take cognisance of concerns that are raised by individuals, organisations and groups.

We have started to collect data on rehabilitation. From November 2015 to January 2016, a rehabilitation sprint audit was conducted, and a second pilot is planned for the period from Monday 23 January 2017 to Sunday 2 April 2017. There is on-going analysis and data capture to see where we can make improvements.

The issue also relates to delivering the full integration of health and social care to ensure that the right care packages are in place and that people who have suffered a stroke can get the help that they need in the right way and at the right time.