Celebrating 10 Years of Supporting Stroke Patients

On Tuesday 6 November, (10:00am – 12:00noon), the Community Stroke Team at Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust (EPUT) will be celebrating 10 years of providing vital rehabilitation, care and treatment for local residents who are recovering from a stroke.

The celebrations will take place in Area 1, at the Cumberlege Intermediate Care Centre, Pantile Avenue, Southend on Sea, Essex, SS2 4BD.

In the last 10 years approximately 6,300 stroke patients have been treated by the team. The Community Stroke Team started on 3 November 2008 with Joanna Harvey, Occupational Therapist (OT) and Carolyne Dawson, Matron who have led the service since then. The service covers Southend, Rayleigh and Castlepoint.

The team has grown over the years and now has 25 staff covering eight different professions; Nurse, Occupational Therapist, Physiotherapist, Speech and Language Therapist, Support workers, Rehabilitation Assistants, Psychologist and Administrator.

Joanna Harvey and Carolyne Dawson said: “We are both very proud of the team and how we have developed over the last 10 years. The fact that we both started the team and still lead it today 10 years later is a real achievement. Also the fact that only two staff have left, is hopefully a testament to the supportive and positive team that has developed. Over the 10 years the team has developed to offer a more robust community care to stroke survivors with the patient being the focus of all we do. We both still very much enjoy our jobs (although very different to the jobs we both started) and get great job satisfaction and look forward to coming to work each day as do the rest of the team. We couldn’t do any of this without the support and hard work of our fantastic team.”

“We have developed and continue to provide stroke services as well as long term Occupational Therapy, specialist physio, intermediate care and an intensive rehabilitation service to support early discharge from hospital for stroke patients.”

Malcolm McCann, Executive Director of Community Services and Partnerships said:

“Congratulations to the Stroke Team on their tenth anniversary. In the last ten years, they have made such a difference to caring for stroke patients in the community. Because of the work they do, people who are recovering from a stroke can access specialist care more quickly and in their own homes. The service has grown so much over the years and I am really proud of them. Well done to the team!”

Special guests from the Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCG), and staff from Southend Hospital and EPUT will get together to celebrate the landmark event.