25 September 2025

Last summer, Alison’s life changed in an instant. After a long day at work, she went to the garden to relax with a glass of wine. She suddenly felt pins and needles in her arm and her speech became slurred. Her husband quickly called an ambulance.

At Northwick Park Hospital, scans revealed a blocked artery in her neck. When Alison was discharged home, she was referred to Hillingdon’s Early Supported Discharge (ESD) Team, who step in to provide rehabilitation in the community.

The stroke had left Alison with a severe stammer and slow speech. “I never realised how hard it was to talk when you have to think about it,” she said.

But with daily visits from the team (physiotherapists, speech and language therapists, occupational therapists and psychologists), Alison began to rebuild her confidence. She practised fluency, breathing and relaxation techniques, role-played conversations, and set herself small but important goals, like booking her own hair appointment.

Her biggest dream was to return to her job as a receptionist. Step by step, she did just that. First in a non-customer facing role, then back at the reception desk a few months later. Even when she had another small stroke, Alison used the tools she’d learned from the team to recover more quickly and return to work again.

“Fortunately, my recovery was much quicker the second time. Using the skills I’d learned, my speech improved, and I was back at work just six weeks later. Without the ESD team, my confidence would have been knocked, but they encouraged me and made me believe I could get back to my old self”.

Every patient has different goals - from walking to the shops, to cooking a meal, to returning to work - and the team works closely with families and carers to make those goals possible.

“Our community rehabilitation service delivers a wide range of programmes, with around 2,000 face-to-face sessions each month,” said Sunoj Jacobs, Lead for Community Adult Rehabilitation Services.

“One of our key offers is the Early Supported Discharge pathway for stroke patients, introduced in 2016. It helps people leave hospital sooner and continue intensive rehabilitation at home. It’s a collaborative project between five organisations, with CNWL as the main provider, along with the London Borough of Hillingdon, Hillingdon Hospital and third sector organisations.”

Today, Alison keeps a drawing on her kitchen wall, given to her by one of the doctors. It shows two paths: one before her stroke, one after, both leading to sunshine.

For Alison, it’s a daily reminder of hope: “Always follow your path to sunshine”.