Good afternoon. Unfortunately, on Monday next week I'm on call for Stroke at Aintree and so can't do the group meeting that we had scheduled for 4pm. As such I have moved it to the Tuesday instead. I hope you can make it then. The purpose of the meeting is to have a space where we can all share how we are getting on, any challenges we have had and to share ideas for how to manage them as well as to how to keep working on reducing our future stroke risk. I look forward to seeing you there.

We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” — attributed to Aristotle. We've done so many stroke prevention posts that I've temporarily run out of things to say. So, I'm going to recycle an old post today. But I think it's a really important post on habit formation. There's no point in knowing how to be healthy if we don't act on it and that's where habits come in. Please share your thoughts on how you build healthy habits. *Habit formation Tip 1: Make it Obvious* We usually perform habits after being triggered by a cue. Find the best cues for the habits you want to do and amplify them. If it's eating fruit buy a huge striking fruit bowl and put it in a really obvious place. If it's going for a run first thing, leave your trainers right by the bed so you can't miss them in the morning, even better go to bed in your running clothes too. If it's flossing put a post-it note on your bathroom mirror. Whatever it takes, just make the habit inescapable. We've got billion dollar companies using the exact same tactics to flood us with cues to eat more junk and watch TV, so we need to fight back with our own tailored queues that actually serve our needs.

Firstly, I am sorry if I offend any professionals, they have all been nice dedicated people, but they’re also complicit in the shortcomings of post stroke support This report is a result of a survey in which I participated. It highlights the shortcomings in post stroke support Firstly, the report speaks about the first six months and that this is the best chance for recovery. I spent 4 months in Hospital following the incident and I received little to no therapy. What I did receive was mostly aimed at freeing up my Hospital bed not improving my condition, but meeting certain milestones to discharging me. EG how far can you walk with a stick? Can you sit in a chair for six hours? So much of that six month window was missed. When I was discharged, I received a little therapy but again mostly aimed at a checklist not aiming to improve my disabilities but rather meet certain milestones. EG how fast far can I walk with a stick? Can I prepare my own meal (even though I can’t cook it and I can’t actually lift it to another room to eat it). And that post Hospital support lasted 2-3 months. Then for the following 6 months I have received no NHS physiotherapy and the occupational therapist was basically just a conduit to obtain various aids rather than to obtain any chance of actual recovery so I had to resort to paying for a private physiotherapist. I have two versions of this report a short one for victims and second longer one for professionals. Which the author has asked me to share

I haven’t received any NHS Physio Therapy since I was discharged from the ICSS in April and referred to the Community Team apart from two social visits with the OT to introduce themselves . I can’t leave my home yet so my options were limited. Firstly I saw a specialised stroke private physio (once) at home and was severely underwhelmed, I only saw him once. Then after a few months I saw another (non-specialist)Physio and I’m glad I persevered as everything he does seems relevant and although I’ve yet to see any significant benefit. I feel that I’ve a much better chance of a partial recovery than I did sitting on my backside waiting for NHS help. It’s money that I can’t really afford, but then again, I can’t afford to do nothing and if anyone is thinking of spending some money on a private Physio, if you get the right one, it’s definitely worth it. I’m willing and able to do anything I can to improve my situation, but it seems the NHS does not have the facilities to help