Stroke patients should be offered at least 15 hours of rehabilitation a week, NICE advises

People who have had a stroke should be offered at least three hours of rehabilitation five days a week, including physiotherapy, occupational therapy, and speech and language therapy, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has said.1In updated guidelines on stroke rehabilitation in adults, NICE recommended an increase in rehabilitation compared with its 2013 guidance after it reviewed the latest evidence and heard from patients and their families. The committee concluded that more intensive rehabilitation would likely improve “quality of life and activities of daily living.”NICE’s chief medical officer Jonathan Benger said that while he recognised the “challenges” these recommendations pose because of staffing and service capacity, the importance of such intensive rehabilitation for those who have been left with disabilities following a stroke “shouldn’t be underestimated.”After being discharged from hospital, care and rehabilitation should also be provided for each patient “for as long as it continues to…
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