Stroke “champions” should be appointed in the NHS to help drive up the standard of a service that is lagging behind the rest of the UK, a group of Welsh Assembly members will say.
The call is among 25 recommendations to the Welsh Assembly from the cross-party health committee, which also says ministers should draw up a strategy for the care and treatment of stroke victims.
It should include targets and deadlines, and a formal monitoring system should be set up to publish results.
People who suffer strokes, the third most common cause of death, should be entered into a national register, the committee says.
It says the absence of a register in Wales currently means “there is no way of evaluating the effectiveness of service improvements”.
An estimated 10,000 to 11,000 people suffer a stroke in Wales every year, a third of whom die and a further third are left permanently disabled.
Executive and clinical champions have already been appointed, but the committee says the leadership structure needs to be clearer.
The report also makes recommendations for the ambulance service, which classifies suspected stroke cases as category B calls. It demands a shake-up of categories so fully crewed ambulances are dispatched when someone dials 999.
Funding for stroke services should be kept under review, it says. Although a “significant” amount of money has been allocated, AMs say they are concerned it does not match that spent in other parts of the UK.
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