Welcome to our regular online bulletin bringing you news about the network and the wider world of stroke and neurorehabilitation |
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Network Annual Conference launched
We are delighted to announce that our Annual Conference will be held on the 10th June at the AJ Bell Stadium in Eccles. We will be celebrating the 10th anniversary of the establishment of networks to support improvement in stroke and neurorehabilitation services in Greater Manchester.
This year's programme features keynote speaker Professor Manisha Kumar, Chief Medical Officer at NHS Greater Manchester as well as parallel workshops on a range of topics. You can download the draft programme.
Unfortunately, we are having to levy a small charge of £50pp to help cover costs. We won't be livestreaming this year but we will be applying for RCP CPD points. Tickets are now available on our Events page.
We have launched our poster competition with prizes awarded in each category. The competition is a chance for teams to share research, audit or quality improvement work with a wider audience. The categories are:
- Pre-hospital and inpatient care
- Community care and longer term support
The deadline for poster abstracts is 5pm 2nd May - find out how to enter here.
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Network news
Our Facilitator Hannah Jones (pictured centre) went on maternity leave in early March, and we will be welcoming Gemma Smith back from her leave at the end of April.
Our Community Clinical Lead Chris Hyde will be finishing her tenure after 3 years in June and we will share our plans to reappoint to the role in due course. We are also delighted that our Acute Stroke Lead Dr Jungim Kwon has been accepted onto the Getting it Right First Time stroke leadership programme.
You can review our current portfolio of projects on our "Projects and impacts" webpages. |
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Greater Manchester influences national neurology programme
The network, and others from the region, attended the National Neurology Transformation Meeting on 29th January in Birmingham. The event, hosted by the Neurology Academy, brought together healthcare professionals to discuss key developments in neurology care.
 Our Community Clinical Lead, Christine Hyde presented our pioneering work transforming community neurorehabilitation services. She shared our service model, outcome measure framework, and long-term support model, whilst highlighting the role of the network in driving forward service improvement locally.
The team took along a number of posters showcasing some of the network's collaborative quality improvement projects. The event was a fantastic opportunity to network with colleagues from across the UK, learn about similar service development work, and share our own experiences. |
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Stroke Association outlines priorities for Government
The charity has just launched a new report to try and influence the Government's 10 year plan for the NHS. Entitled: Unlocking Potential: a bold vision for stroke care in England, it highlights key areas of focus and makes recommendations to improve stroke care:
You can download the report from their website. |
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Step change in patient and carer involvement
We were sad to say goodbye to Abi Bissett, our Patient  and Public Involvement (PPI) Co-ordinator at the end of January. We were unable to continue funding her role but she has built a lasting legacy which we have published in a report.
Our aim was to create a real step change in how we approached PPI in our service improvement work. We are proud of the changes we have made to increase diversity in our Patient & Carer Group, our upskilling of the network and wider workforce, as well as publishing of a toolkit of resources. |
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Thrombectomy pathway reviews
 In mid March we came together to dissect the findings of a detailed review of the pathway across the three Hyper Acute Stroke Unit (HASU) sites. A team from J&J observed the pathway in action for 4 days and also interviewed staff on the ground.
The report identified key areas where we can make improvements. Many actions will focus on the "human factors" i.e. how people interpret protocols and act on them, and will help increase the numbers of procedures undertaken, especially those from patients at the referring HASUs.
In January, our clinical teams joined others from the North West in reviewing current services delivering mechanical thrombectomy. The life changing procedure is available 24/7 in two of the sub regions: Greater Manchester and Cheshire & Mersey, but Lancashire & South Cumbria continue to be challenged in extending their service operating hours.
The meeting was attend by National Clinical Director for Stroke Dr David Hargroves, as well as Getting it Right First Time Lead Professor Deb Lowe. The regional teams already regularly meet to share best practice, but it was a good opportunity to also engage with senior members of the North West Ambulance Service team. |
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Devonshire INRU improvements
 As part of the wider Greater Manchester neurorehabilitation programme, the Stockport based Devonshire Centre for Neuro-rehabilitation is being transferred from Stockport NHS FT to the management of Northern Care Alliance NHS FT (NCA). Aligning the centre to NCA is in line with the originally agreed reconfiguration of inpatient neurorehabilitation services across the region under the Greater Manchester transformation programme. The service will continue to be provided from the Devonshire Centre in its current Stockport location.
The transfer project commenced in October 2024 and all affected staff are being kept fully informed throughout the process. The initial phase of the project included the transfer of the therapy and medical staff to NCA, which has now been completed, while NCA are investing to increase staffing levels to improve service delivery and offer more therapy to inpatients at the Devonshire Centre. The second phase is now underway and will be completed in upcoming months. This will conclude the full transfer of the staff and service to NCA management. |
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Visual impairment update
The University of Liverpool is carrying out research to determine healthcare professionals understanding of vision standards and how they are shared with patients, to address any future outstanding training/support needs. The research team are keen for range of professionals, regardless of level of understanding of the vision driving guidance, to complete a short online survey. To take part, or find out more visit https://bit.ly/42cMUX5 before 30th April 2025. All responses will be kept completely confidential.
 In other news, Dr Claire Howard, a stroke specialist orthoptist at Salford Royal has been awarded a prestigious NIHR Advanced Clinical and Practitioner Academic Fellowship. Claire has been awarded £750,000 over a five years to develop a new intervention for visual impairment caused by stroke. She plans to develop a smartphone application to deliver virtual reality-based training at the hospital bedside and in the community.
Part of the funding is for a research assistant - an exciting opportunity for a healthcare professional to work alongside Claire for three years and develop the outcome measures that are important to patients. This role will be fully funded with backfill for the clinical post and training costs provided. It is a fantastic opportunity for anyone with a keen interest in clinical research - full funding will be provided for them to complete a PhD as part of the process. The post will be advertised in the coming months.
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Multiple Sclerosis (MS) Resources
Fatigue training
 The FACETS programme is the outcome of an MS Society funded research project that showed it was effective method to help people with MS manage their fatigue. The programme, incorporates ‘energy effectiveness techniques’ – like lifestyle decisions and ways of working that maximise the energy people have – alongside cognitive behavioural strategies, helping participants to learn helpful ways of thinking about fatigue.
The charity is offering online FACETS training course for health and social care professionals resumes on 7th and 14th May. This course will equip Health and Social care professionals to deliver FACETS, a six week, group-based, fatigue management programme. Register for the course here.
MS Trust – New Progression in MS book
The charity have launched a new book called Progression in MS. Health professionals can download or order up to 30 print copies free from the MS Trust website.
The traditional classification of MS into three subtypes is being challenged. New imaging techniques and the use of blood biomarkers has shown that chronic inflammation and neurodegeneration occurs even in the early stages of MS. This is leading to new ways of thinking about MS, and an increased understanding of the underlying biology which will hopefully lead to better treatments for progression.
The book looks at why how we think about MS is changing, the terms that are being introduced to describe these new concepts and how the ageing process can affect MS. It covers the psychological impact of living with progression and the effects on people's lives. It also discusses lifestyle changes that can help individuals live well with progression and approaches to reduce the risk of complications.
It includes information on options for treating and managing progression, both disease modifying drug therapies and symptom management approaches. As well as the options for care and support in the future.
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Network resources
Our collaborative work generates a lot of fantastic resources that we host on our website. Some webpages require registration/login to access. Examples for professionals include:
We have developed Toolkits to support improvement including FND and PPI. We have just launched another for MND which provides information and resources developed during pathway improvement work in Greater Manchester. The resources can be accessed:
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Centre of Clinical and Care Research (CCR) Internship in Neurology
 The internship will support a non medical healthcare professional in developing their skills and knowledge in wider research processes. It will involve working with Neurologist Dr Joyutpal Das (Salford Royal) in people with MS to explore how to make the current service more patient centered and explore their concerns.
There will be opportunities to undertake activities within specific projects to help build skills and develop as an individual with an interest in research for example:
- Shadowing different Research Delivery Teams to see first-hand the different stages of clinical research delivery
- Becoming involved in patient and public involvement and engagement activity and data collection etc
- Undertaking Associate Principal investigator scheme
- Writing an application for research finding from NIHR or other organisations
- Involvement in a single research project to support its running whilst engaging in research first hand
- Writing audit/QI/service evaluation results up for publication
- Support to perform and write-up an exploratory/systematic review to develop a research question
This internship will support an employee of the Northern Care Alliance NHS FT by providing backfill funding for the research time taken. The funding can be for up to a maximum of one day a week for up to 12 months. Contact helen.hurst@nca.nhs.uk to discuss - the deadline is 15th April. |
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Emotional wellbeing training
The Wellbeing after Stroke – 2 (WAterS2) study has begun staff training at NHS sites. The aim is to upskill a non-psychologist workforce to deliver an 8-week online group workshop based on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy to improve psychological adjustment and wellbeing. Stroke survivors at least 4 months post-stroke are also being recruited at sites to receive this therapy after training has completed in March 2025. We will learn a lot about delivering training and support online and how we can reach stroke survivors from marginalised communities.
You can read more about the study here. Pictured are the WAteRS2 Research Advisory Panel (including two ex members of our Patient & Carer Group - Ann and Billy).
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Safe fasting during Ramadan
 March brings us the Holy month of Ramadan this year. We want to equip health professionals with the information needed to support safe fasting in patients with chronic health conditions such as diabetes.
Our Ramadan leaflet highlights the importance of making healthier choices and consulting a GP or health practitioner when considering fasting whilst living with a chronic condition. You can download the leaflet in three different languages as well as other resources on cardiovascular disease on our webpages. |
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Loss of a stroke legend
It was with great sadness that we heard of the news of the death of Pippa Tyrrell, emeritus Professor of Stroke Medicine at the University of Manchester and retired consultant in stroke medicine at Salford Royal.
Pippa was appointed as the first consultant in stroke medicine at Salford Royal in 1995, where she set-up the first dedicated stroke service in Manchester. Over the next few years she worked tirelessly to transform the provision of stroke care across the region and was hugely influential at a national level.
She was passionate about teaching and also developed a thriving research portfolio, becoming the first Professor of stroke medicine at the University of Manchester. During her distinguished career, Pippa held numerous senior leadership roles in research and also clinically. She was awarded an MBE in recognition of her services to stroke care and research.
Many of you will have worked with Pippa over the years; she was a staunch supporter and great friend to the network. She significantly influenced the development of our centralised hyper acute model and continued to support improvements after it was implemented.
 Until very recently, she was always delighted to judge our poster competition and present her award at our annual conference. She is pictured here (far right) in 2022 having bestowed awards to her colleagues Dr Paula Beech and Lorraine Azam.
Our Manager Sarah Rickard reflected: “I always think of Pippa as the Grandmother of stroke. She was an inspiring female leader, who remained humble and importantly very kind. She will be missed but her legacy in stroke lives on.” |
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Physio podcast in MS
 Helen Glodkowski, neuro physiotherapy lead in the Central Manchester Community Stroke & Neurorehabilitation Team recently took part in a podcast for the MS Society. The recording discussed the impact of physiotherapy for people living with MS: A life on the progressive side episode 2 | MS Society
Helen thoroughly enjoyed the experience and reflected:
"It came as a complete surprise to be invited to participate in this joint venture. I felt honoured to be asked, but it was also an opportunity to promote the importance of therapy input and to do so in a slightly different way to our normal routes. It was both a terrifying and enjoyable experience to record the podcast, but I really hope that it has encouraged people to look for some physio input, as we know it can improve people's quality of life." |
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Stroke Association news
Stroke Association Greater Manchester staff: A Day of Sharing and Collaboration
 Last month marked an exciting milestone for Greater Manchester Stroke Association, as they hosted their first official staff training meeting since acquiring Bury’s Stroke Recovery Service. The theme of the day—sharing and collaboration—set the tone for a truly inspiring gathering.
It was fantastic to see all 10 teams, over 40 staff members, come together to discuss the challenges faced in each area. The open discussions allowed for valuable insights, knowledge exchange, and, most importantly, a reminder of the vital role we all play in supporting those affected by stroke. A key takeaway from the day was the power of connection—not just amongst the teams but also with other local organisations. The energy in the room was a testament to the dedication and passion within the teams.
New in hospital resource “Stroke Support Pack”
The redesigned pack consists of a 'hello' folder and two health information guides, one for newly diagnosed stroke survivors and one for loved ones, or the people who support them. It is in addition to leaflets about local stroke recovery services. This pack has been specifically designed to:
- Help people understand what has happened and how it might affect them
- Give answers to common questions about stroke. Including questions around recovery and rehabilitation, secondary prevention, and daily living after returning home
- Let people know they do not have to face recovery alone
You can order packs from their website.
Stroke Professionals Network
For more information, resources and updates about national developments, why not join the Stroke Professionals network? Join our Professional Network | Stroke Association |
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information; voluntary sector organisations
