Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the lifelong support available to survivors of childhood stroke.

The Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, funded by the Stroke Association, is currently developing guidance on the diagnosis, management and rehabilitation of childhood stroke. This guidance is due to be published in 2017.

Services for children with complex needs following a stroke are usually provided through specialised paediatric neurology or neurodisability services. Through its specialised commissioning function, NHS England is administering a number of ‘Pathfinder projects’ looking at end to end care processes for paediatric neurosciences. This work is seeking to describe the optimal care pathway for specialist paediatric neurorehabilitation and will encompass children’s stroke.

The Department is not aware of any direct engagement with the families of childhood stroke survivors. NHS England’s National Clinical Director for Stroke continues to work with the Stroke Association on how children’s long term stroke care is best delivered to their local communities.