Lincolnshire's new Assisted Discharge Service aims to help stroke survivors recover at home two weeks earlier than normal through expanded care services.

On average, a stroke victim spends around 20 days in hospital. The assisted discharge service plans to cut this time down to just one week. Not only will this increase the amount of available hospital resources, it will allow stroke victims to get used to their new condition in a more familiar environment.

Stroke victims who have suffered mobility problems will be helped by the professionals filling the physiotherapy jobs created in the scheme. Often stroke victims lose co-ordination and their ability to freely walk or move their arms.

The new service will also create speech and language therapy jobs. Another side-effect of a stroke is the loss of motor function in facial muscles, making verbal communication difficult. Other symptoms that can hinder speech include aphasia - the inability to speak or understand language due to damage to speech centres in the brain - or weakness in the tongue itself.

Funded by the NHS National Stroke Strategy, the Assisted Discharge Service will be ran by Lincolnshire Community Health Services.

Speaking to local newspaper the Louth Leader, Carol Cottingham, long term conditions manager for NHS Lincolnshire said: "Stroke services are a priority for NHS Lincolnshire. Over time it is anticipated the new community rehabiliation services will help reduce people's stay in hospital from an average of 20 days, down to an average of 7".

Strokes are the third leading cause of death in the UK and the single largest cause of adult disability in England.

Randstad Care has a wide range of occupational therapy jobs across the whole UK