Lincolnshire Primary Care Trust has “more areas of weakness than strength” when treating stroke patients, according to research just released.
The research, carried out last year by the Care Quality Commission (CQC), used information from the government, local councils and local health services.
It also visited hospitals and care homes across the county and spoke to carers, family members and patients dealing with strokes.
From the information gathered, the CQC marked various areas of stroke care, out from the worst performing to the best performing.
Overall, Lincolnshire was marked as “Fair Performing” — although the care given is not the worst in the country, it has more weaknesses than strengths.
The result puts Lincolnshire just below the national average assessment score for strokes.
The areas Lincolnshire struggled most with were early discharge support, service access, support for carers, checking up on health a year after the stroke and end of life care.
However, the county was one of the best performers in the UK for involving stroke carers and survivors in the development of its stroke service.
It also faired well in giving patients care choices, a range of information, GP checkups, quick transfers from hospital to home and strong individual help.
Spokesperson for NHS Lincolnshire Sarah Howells said: “We welcome the CQC report on stroke services. This helps us to identify areas that we are doing well in and where we can improve services for patients.
“This report shows that we do particularly well on planning and managing stroke services and we achieved a very high score for involving stroke survivors in developing services.
“But we need to get better at specialist rehabilitation and helping people to stay healthy after a stroke.
“NHS Lincolnshire recently invested in a new Assisted Discharge Stroke Service from Lincolnshire Community Health Services.
“The service identifies patients in hospital following a stroke who are well enough to return home and benefit from home based rehabilitation.
“We will continue to work closely with patients, carers, social services and the Stroke Association to ensure we are investing wisely in stroke services that do improve quality of life for stroke survivors and their families.”
“Concerning” Variation
The research was conducted nationally over the last year, and results showed a concerning amount of variation between PCTs.
24% of areas assessed were unsatisfactory, 23% scored Fair Performing, while 26% got Better performing, and 26% scored Best Performing.
CQC Chief Executive Cynthia Bower said: “Stroke is the single largest cause of disability in adults and our evidence shows that early access to intense rehabilitation is beneficial to people’s recovery.
“Services have made improvements over recent years in the care provided in the hours and days that follow their stroke.
“It is vital that this momentum is maintained and that improvements are made in the care and support provided in the longer term.
“The level of variation is a concern, but the report also shows that the barriers to effective care after transfer home and around person centred care can be overcome and improvements made, which can help people to recover from, and cope with, life after stroke.
“We expect to see local health and social services working with stroke survivors, carers and representative groups to agree and implement a plan to improve services drawing on the results of our assessments of services in local areas.”
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It has been a tragic week with three deaths on Lincolnshire’s roads after two male motorbike riders and a man on a pedal bike lost their lives.
The roads are now busier again after further lockdown restrictions were eased on April 12, but since then three men have sadly died.
A man died after falling from his pedal bike in Branston on Wednesday, April 14 and police said his death is not being treated as suspicious.
On the same day, a 34-year-old male died after a crash involving two motorcycles near Gainsborough.
The man who lost his life in the collision was riding a silver Wuyang motorcycle. The second motorcycle was a blue Suzuki being ridden by a man in his 30s, who was taken to hospital with suspected serious injuries.
A 54-year-old man from North Lincolnshire also died after his motorbike crashed with a Royal Mail post van on the A631 near Glentham at around 4pm on Thursday, April 15.
This comes after it was revealed on March 11 that for the first time in over three decades nobody had died on the county’s roads in the first months of the year, according to Lincolnshire Road Safety Partnership.
Lincolnshire Police revealed earlier this week that between 2018 and 2020 twenty five motorcyclists lost their lives on Lincolnshire’s roads.
There have been 285 coronavirus cases in Greater Lincolnshire and eight COVID-related deaths so far this week – a 7% drop in cases and one less death from the previous week.
The government’s COVID-19 dashboard on Friday recorded 32 new cases in Lincolnshire, eight in North Lincolnshire and three in North East Lincolnshire.
On April 16, three deaths were registered in Lincolnshire and none in Northern Lincolnshire. These figures include deaths both in and out of hospitals, as well as residents in hospitals outside the county.
NHS England reported two hospitals this week so far, compared to none this time last week.
On Friday, national cases increased by 2,596 to 4,383,732, while deaths rose by 34 to 127,225.
In local news, Lincolnshire health bosses expect COVID-19 cases to rise in our region as lockdown is eased, but are optimistic that if numbers are kept low enough, then people will be free to enjoy the summer.
Andy Fox, Deputy Director of Public Health at Lincolnshire County Council, said the lifting of coronavirus restrictions this week had not caused any specific concerns yet.
Since Wednesday, Greater Lincolnshire has again seen a decrease in its infection rates overall, against an increase nationally.
All districts have seen a fall in their rates, except small increases in North Lincolnshire and South Holland. Lincoln has stayed the same and has the lowest rate in the region.
Boston has the highest infection rate of COVID-19 in Greater Lincolnshire and is ranked 9th in the UK.
Here’s Greater Lincolnshire’s infection rates up to April 16:
Greater Lincolnshire’s infection rates from Apr 9 to Apr 16. | Data: Gov UK / Table: James Mayer for The Lincolnite
England’s R number has dropped slightly to between 0.7 and 1 according to the latest data this week. This means for every 10 people infected with COVID-19, they will pass it on to between seven and 10 others.
The new Indian variant of the COVID virus that’s been detected in the UK has all the hallmarks of a very dangerous virus.
It has two new significant mutations in the spike protein that help it infect cells and evade the immune system.
People are “likely” to need a third dose of the coronavirus vaccine within 12 months of getting the first two, Pfizer’s chief executive has said.
Dr Albert Bourla said a booster jab could be necessary “somewhere between six and 12 months” after the second one – and every year thereafter.
Coronavirus data for Greater Lincolnshire on Friday, April 16
Greater Lincolnshire includes Lincolnshire and the unitary authorities of North and North East (Northern) Lincolnshire.
58,919 cases (up 43)
41,028 in Lincolnshire (up 32)
9,275 in North Lincolnshire (up eight)
8,616 in North East Lincolnshire (up three)
2,185 deaths (up three)
1,613 from Lincolnshire (up three)
304 from North Lincolnshire (no change)
268 from North East Lincolnshire (no change)
of which 1,302 hospital deaths (no change)
810 at United Lincolnshire Hospitals Trust (no change)
41 at Lincolnshire Community Health Service hospitals (no change)
1 at Lincolnshire Partnership Foundation Trust (no change)
450 in Northern Lincolnshire (NLAG) (no change)
4,383,732 UK cases, 127,225 deaths
DATA SOURCE — FIGURES CORRECT AT THE TIME OF the latest update. postcode data includes deaths not in healthcare facilities or in hospitals outside authority boundaries.
Plans to demolish part of a former play centre and Chinese takeaway to build 41 new student flats, have been submitted to the City of Lincoln Council.
Killingbeck PLG has applied for permission to demolish “most” of the existing facade of the former home of Imagination Station and Big Wok, on Beaumont Fee, and rebuild it as part of the development.
The main hall, a warehouse and a recently built “link block” to the rear of the building will also be demolished, and will be completely replaced with a new extension.
In documents to the council, the applicant describes how the 41”study bedrooms” will be en-suite and open off a central circulation area.
The build will form part of the Iconinc post-graduate residential units development next door and will sit opposite the Park Court student accommodation on Park Street.
It will include 12 apartments on the ground floor, 11 at first and second floor and seven units on the third floor.
How the build could look.
The application said: “There is a clear need for good quality, post-graduate, city centre, residential accommodation and the economic case for the redevelopment of the site is reinforced by the fact the site can be linked with the new Iconic development so amenities can be shared.
“The demolition of the existing property and the proposed redevelopment will bring positive benefits to the area economically and aesthetically.”
As part of the build, residents will gain shared access to existing facilities including the gym.
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