Call for stroke care improvements

The government is to launch its 10-year stroke strategy for England by promising to save thousands of lives.

Ministers will call for better awareness among the public and health professionals as well as faster access to care, particularly brain scans.

They will acknowledge that while services have got better, they have not kept pace with improvements seen in cancer and heart care. Campaigners said change was needed as care was currently a "matter of luck".

Strokes happen when the blood supply to parts of the brain is interrupted, either through a burst blood vessel, or a vessel blocked by a blood clot.

They are the third most common cause of death, accounting for 50,000 deaths a year. The strategy will say "now is the time to close the gap" on heart and cancer services.

Some 97% of hospitals have a stroke unit - something which was unheard of 10 years ago. But ministers will say there is much more that can be done over raising awareness and ensuring faster access to emergency care. A £12m campaign is to be launched to help people identify the symptoms of stroke - weakness in the face and arms, and speech problems.

And the strategy will demand the NHS provides fast access to MRI scans for those suffering mini strokes, known as transient ischaemic attacks, which are a good indicator a person will at some point have a full stroke.

Those from high risk groups, determined by analysing factors such as age and blood pressure, should have scans within 24 hours of the symptoms, while those with a low risk should get one within seven days.

Only a third of those who suffer mini strokes get MRIs within seven days at the moment. This measure alone could lead to an 80% reduction in the numbers who go on to have a full stroke. And for those who have full strokes, a brain scan should be done immediately to determine whether clot-busting drugs are required.

But Stroke Association data showed that only 42% of patients receive a brain scan within 24 hours to confirm their diagnosis with wide variations in performance across regions. The strategy will say if all these measures were to be introduced up to 6,800 deaths cases of disabilities could be saved and 1,600 strokes averted.

Joe Korner, director of communications at the Stroke Association, said: "For too long stroke has been a low priority for government and health providers. "Current stroke care is a matter of luck and postcode and we are looking for the Stroke Strategy to change this."

And shadow health secretary Andrew Lansley said the NHS was lagging behind the rest of Europe on death rates. "Ten years on and stroke services have not been a Labour government priority. This is a scandal considering that stroke is the third cause of death and the leading cause of adult disability in this country."