Strokes cost UK taxpayers £244,600 every five minutes – the frequency with which someone has a stroke – according to new research from The Stroke Association (SA). The charity warns that without urgent action to improve diagnosis, treatment and rehabilitation, costs will rise by 40% to £35.9 billion a year by 2035.
The total annual cost of supporting people with strokes currently stands at £25.7 billion, or £70.4 million a day, with over half of this spent on social care. As people live longer, the charity says the burden on the taxpayer is set to skyrocket within the next decade unless the process of diagnosis, treatment and rehabilitation is streamlined.
Rehabilitation shortfall revealed
The brain injury caused by a stroke can leave survivors having to relearn basics such as walking, talking or swallowing. Around a third of stroke survivors also experience depression.
Despite this, new figures from the Sentinel Stroke National Audit Programme (SSNAP) show that only 7% of stroke patients receive the amount of rehabilitation set out by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence. Instead of the recommended three hours a day, five days a week, the average amount of hospital rehabilitation a stroke survivor receives is just 40 minutes per day.
Family impact highlighted
Adebisi Desalu-Odiase, 36, a mother of two from Bedford, became a carer for her husband Alex when he had a stroke in 2022. She said: “I lost myself for the year of Alex’s stroke and it took a long time to recover.
“Everything changes after a stroke. Our time together became about me being his carer, and I also took on all the family responsibilities. There is no ‘i’ in stroke – medically, it happens to just one person, but it affects the whole family.”
Alex added: “The moment people understand that each stroke is different, it makes everything else easy. It’s not the same for everybody.
“There needs to be a level of grace to people like myself. I am trying to get better. I hope to get better. People just need to understand that it's not the same anymore.”
The pair are now finalising a book about Alex's stroke and the impact it had on their family, to be released at the end of the month.
Call for government action
The SA is now calling on the Government to treat stroke as a major health, research, social care and economic priority.
Juliet Bouverie OBE, CEO of the SA, said: “The brain injury caused by stroke changes a person’s life in an instant with far-reaching repercussions for both themselves and their loved ones.
“It is the leading cause of adult disability, and survivors must get the right intensity and frequency of rehabilitation for as long as they need, alongside emotional support, to make the best possible recovery.
“This simply isn’t happening so the cost of stroke is extortionate and, as our report illustrates, this is only going to get worse.”
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: "Hundreds of people every day suffer a stroke, and the NHS is working hard to get them the rapid support and long-term rehabilitation they will often require.
“In our 10-Year Health Plan last year, we pledged to reduce premature mortality from heart disease and stroke by a quarter within a decade, and our Cardiovascular Disease Modern Service Framework, published in July, aims to accelerate that progress.
“The NHS is also working to increase the delivery of thrombolysis and thrombectomy rates as a key intervention to support improved outcomes in patients who have had a stroke.”
