Chest Heart & Stroke Scotland (CHSS) has announced this week that they are to close and redevelop the communication support element of their support services for people living with a stroke in Fife.
They will, however, continue to provide support for those discharged from hospital having had a stroke through the CHSS Fife Stroke Nurse Service and through Stroke Groups across Fife that are affiliated to CHSS.
Barbara Dalgetty, Head of Rehabilitation Support at CHSS said: “We have made repeated attempts over the years to secure funding for our communication support work in Fife, the most recent being over the past few months. Regrettably CHSS is no longer in a position to continue to support this model of service delivery without external funding, so we are having to look at new ways to support this group of people living with a stroke.
“We recognise the challenges faced by the new integrated health and social care joint board in Fife, and the fact that many more people in Fife are living for longer with a stroke or other similar long term conditions. We are therefore looking options for develop a new Rehabilitation Support Service in Fife which will work with people living with heart and lung health conditions as well as stroke
“Early discussions are on-going and it is estimated that it will take at least year before we can launch any new service. Such a service would be able to effectively support people with post-stroke communications difficulties, in the context of a broader range of rehabilitation support.”
The charity hopes that a new model for supporting people across Fife with cardiac, respiratory and / or stroke conditions in their rehabilitation goals will prove to be both more cost effective and more responsive to the needs of people living with multiple conditions.
CHSS would like to recognise and thank all their enthusiastic and committed service users, staff and volunteers. They have made a real difference to people Fife with post-stroke communications difficulties over the past 13 years and they wish to thank all those involved in making this happen.