Updates on improvements in stroke and neurorehabilitation care in Greater Manchester - plain English version

New Community Leads join the Network

We are pleased to welcome two new Community Clinical Leads who will help provide expertise in this setting.

Stuart joined in February. He is a senior Physiotherapist and co‑leads the Bury Community Stroke & Neurorehabilitation Team. Photo of Susan Bannister

Susan is also an experienced Physiotherapist. She leads the Bolton community service and will start with us in April.

Both will support our Clinical Director and the wider network team in improving community based care and support.

Greater Manchester wins award for new service

Our new Neurogenic Bladder and Bowel Service received an award from Bladder & Bowel UK at a recent regional event celebrating improvements in continence care.

Our Manager Sarah, along with nurses Louise (Salford) and Vicky (Wigan), accepted the award for collaborative work in designing and launching this much‑needed service.

Early feedback from patients has been extremely positive. The service is already helping people manage bladder and bowel difficulties with more confidence and support.

Different Strokes community events in Manchester

Different Strokes logo

The charity is hosting small events during 2026 for working‑age and younger stroke survivors.

These sessions offer:

A chance to meet other stroke survivors
Activities and shared stories
Support from staff and volunteers

You can sign up via their website (click on the hyperlink).

Improving care for people living with spasticity

Many patients with a neurological condition experience muscle stiffness or tightness called spasticity.

To improve access to treatment, we recently brought together specialists from across the region.

They discussed:

What services look like now
Where improvements are needed
How we can give people quicker, fairer access to treatment

A new group of professionals will begin working on these improvements from May. This will include the voices of those with lived experience of the condition.

Genetic testing to personalise stroke treatment

At a recent innovation event, we shared learning from a local project at Salford Royal Hospital.

The stroke team used a new genetic test to identify patients who do not respond to anti platelet treatment. Anti platelets drugs are important in preventing further cardiovascular events like stroke.

In the study, about a third of patients were found to have genes that made the drug ineffective. They were switched to other medicines that would work.

Patients from ethnic minority groups were more likely to be unresponsive to the drug. This project aims to make stroke prevention more personalised and effective for everyone.

Better support for people affected by Multiple Sclerosis (MS)

We are developing new resources to help people living with MS and those who support them.

A toolkit for professionals has been created using information from national and local MS charities

A separate, patient‑focused version is being co‑designed with people with lived experience. It will be published soon.

In January, an MS engagement event brought people with the condition, carers and professionals together. The meeting shared what is working well and where improvements are needed. The feedback will be used to shape future MS services provided across the region.

Our Patient & Carer Group

We held our most well attended meeting ever in March. We had two new members joining the already established group.

It was fantastic to have such a breadth of experience of people affected by a stroke or a neurological condition including spinal injury.

The group met our new Community Lead Stuart. They also held a discussion on what matters most to them. Their experience will help shape our new strategy which is due to be updated later in the year.

Stroke unit visits

The network team is currently visiting all of the eight stroke units in Greater Manchester.

They aim to:

Bring people together to look at services
Help teams share good practice
Ensure patient and carer voices shape improvements

A representative from our Patient & Carer Group attends each visit. Pictured above is Caroline who came with us to Trafford General Hospital recently.

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