A RETIRED cab driver is concerned about the lack of treatment and advice he has received since suffering a stroke.

Mr James Thomerson, 78, from Braintree, suffered a stroke on November 12 2012.

Since leaving Broomfields Hospital on Christmas day that year, Mr Thomerson feels he has not received enough care to aid his recovery.

According to new figures released by the Stroke Association he is not alone, in a survey of over 1,100 people living in the UK, 45% of stroke survivors feel abandoned once they leave hospital.

Mr Thomerson wrote a letter to Broomfields Hospital asking why his care had not been followed up, however he was unimpressed when the response referred him to his GP.

He said: “I had some work done to my hand but it has not done a lot of good - I cannot feel anything in my fingers.”

"I really feel they do not care about me.

"I feel for the doctors because they have enough work on their plates at the moment."

Around 150,000 people in the UK suffer a stroke every year and Mr Thomerson feels his life has been completely changed by the incident.

He said: "After my stroke I might as well be in prison, I cannot go out anywhere and I am frightened in case it happens again.

"I cannot drive anymore and driving was my life.

"I cannot even button a shirt anymore. My wife has to help me get dressed and she has to drive me everywhere."

Jon Barrick, chief executive at the Stroke Association, said of the report: “These findings are deeply concerning.

"Currently, too many stroke survivors feel abandoned when they return home as they are not given the right support to begin their rehabilitation.

"Major strides have been made in the way a stroke is treated in hospital; however the same is not true when stroke survivors return home."

The Stroke Association run an information, advice and support service throughout Mid Essex, more information can be found at: www.stroke.org.uk/finding-support/information-advice-and-support-service-mid-essex.

The charity has started a petition for a change to the UK's stroke strategy, find it at: www.stroke.org.uk/newera.