Physiotherapy UK 2012 - Stroke

The percentage of stroke units offering a seven-day service has been rising in the last few years, from four per cent in 2008 to seven per cent in 2009.

It currently stands at eight per cent.

‘I am confident there will be an improvement in that particular area,’ said Professor Drummond, head of healthcare research. It should reach double figures soon, she predicted.

Urging delegates to continue to push for the best possible services for patients, she said: ‘The greatest danger is that we don’t aim high enough for our patients.

We can all set targets that we can achieve. But we need to set targets that are aspirational.’

She had visited a hospital in Switzerland, where patients had strictly regimented days with time set aside for their physiotherapy, occupational therapy and other treatments.

‘They ran it like the train timetable,’ she laughed, describing the regime as ‘scary’.

But then, more seriously, she said it meant patients got the care they needed. Professor Drummond called on physios to fight where the structure militated against good patient care.

‘It’s not your fault you are working in bad structures.

But if the structure isn’t working, you have to challenge it,’ she said.