NHS rehabilitation care staff shortage fails stroke patients, say health leaders | Stroke
The NHS is failing stroke patients and limiting their chances of recovery due to a shortage of rehabilitation care staff, health leaders have said.
More people are recovering from stroke in the UK than ever before. However, according to the Chartered Physiotherapy Association and the Association of Certified Physiotherapists in Neurology, hopes for recovery are dashed due to the lack of physiotherapists and other specialist staff.
National guidelines say people who have had a stroke should receive therapy-based rehabilitation for three hours a day, five days a week. But CSP and Acpin said the data shows that, on average, people are hospitalized only three to four days a week and rehabbed for one to two days after discharge.
Ash James, CSP’s director of practice and development, said despite a record number of registered physiotherapists, stroke services were chronically understaffed and unable to provide the care patients needed.
He said: “If the NHS is failing to convert workforce growth into the positions needed to meet even minimum standards for stroke rehabilitation, something is seriously wrong with our healthcare system.
“It is extremely concerning that our members have gone above and beyond to advocate for their patients and secure the staff they need, but their concerns have been ignored.”
A national survey of stroke physiotherapists working in 159 NHS services across the UK has found workforce shortages across different aspects of stroke care. These included community stroke services, acute stroke teams and community rehabilitation support.
Findings from the 2025 stroke physiotherapy workforce survey found there were 26% fewer physiotherapists in community stroke services than national guidelines recommend. Acute stroke teams were also staffed with 15% fewer physiotherapists than recommended, and community rehabilitation support workers were 36% below guidance levels.
Adine Adonis, chief executive of Acpin, said: “More people than ever are recovering from stroke in the UK, but survival must be matched by a good chance of recovery. These findings underline the stark and urgent gap in the number of physiotherapists and support staff available to provide the specialist rehabilitation that stroke survivors rely on. This is not good enough.”
“This is failing people every day and limiting their potential for recovery. We need urgent action to ensure every stroke survivor gets the physiotherapy support they deserve.”
Juliet Bouverie, chief executive of the Stroke Association, said the lives of around 240 people in England were “potentially destroyed” by stroke every day. He said: “Stroke survivors are at risk of not being able to see, speak, move or even swallow, which has a major impact on their ability to enjoy a full and independent lifestyle.
“We know that early and personalized rehabilitation, together with ongoing support, can greatly improve the physical effects of stroke and therefore also support emotional health. But there is no escaping the fact that progress towards improving the availability and intensity of rehabilitation has been very slow.
“Much more investment in both people and processes is desperately needed to meet national care guidelines to ensure stroke survivors are supported both in hospital and in the community for as long as they need.”
The Department of Health and Social Care said every person who has had a stroke deserves the support they need to recover, but too many people are not getting it.
“We are working to fix this,” a spokesman said. “We’re introducing specialist stroke rehabilitation in people’s homes so more people can get the right care without needing hospitalisation. We’ve also set clear standards for what good stroke care looks like.”
The spokesman added that the government was committed to reducing deaths from stroke by a quarter over the next 10 years.
