What you can expect from us
Our Stroke Support Helpline offers confidential information, guidance and support to anyone affected by stroke. All enquiries are answered by our dedicated trained staff , who have an understanding of stroke and how it changes lives.
When you contact us, you can expect that you will be listened to and treated as an individual, with respect and courtesy. We will give up-to-date information, and if we don't know the answer to your question, we'll research it or signpost you to people who can help.
Our service standards
We aim to provide every person who contacts our Stroke Support Helpline with excellent service and high-quality support and information in a timely manner. We have a number of service standards, and we monitor and evaluate our performance. These include:
Respond to an increased number of enquiries year on year.
Answer 80% of calls made to the Stroke Support Helpline during opening hours.
Answer 90% of written enquiries within three working days and 100% within 5 working days.
Our service remit
- We're not trained counsellors and don't offer counselling, but we can listen.
- We're not medically trained and do not provide medical advice, but we can explain stroke in plain English and help you understand some of the medical jargon.
- We're not able to provide detailed financial and benefits advice, but we can give general information and tell you where you can get further support.
- We're not legally trained and do not provide legal advice, but we can give you information about organisations that can.
- We're not able to provide an advocacy service, but we can search for advocacy services in your local area.
- We can't recommend specific products or services provided by others, but we can tell you where to find this information.
Our information
We provide information about stroke, the effects of stroke and life after stroke in a range of accessible formats. Read how we produce our information.
Service quality
To ensure the quality and consistency of our service, and for learning and development purposes, all calls are recorded. Occasionally our staff will listen in to calls and read written enquiries.
Please feel free to tell us not to if you are not comfortable with this. All staff are bound by our strict confidentiality policy. For further information, see our terms and conditions.
We are community members of the Helplines Partnership.
Service user comments
I was happy with the response, it was very helpful and reassuring during a difficult time. I appreciate the work done by all in offering the advice, support and information.
Thank you so much for the speedy reply Your kind and knowledgeable response to my telephone call this morning has already helped me to be more positive in dealing with this traumatic event.
You are amazing, thank you so much for your time and really spot on research it is really appreciated.
Feedback
We are always thinking about ways to improve our service, to make sure we reach as many people as possible and can effectively meet the needs of people affected by stroke. If you have any comments, feedback or suggestions, please email us at helpline@stroke.org.uk.