The UK lags behind other developed nations in stroke care and England is far from meeting its own targets, according to a new Health Foundation report.

The report brings together data on performance with evidence of what works and the cost implications of stroke. It forms part of the Health Foundation's£2.5m, five-year quest for quality and improvement research initiative.

It also highlights the benefits of effective preventive programmes and food regulation. As many as 69 per cent of strokes in inner London could be prevented by reducing hypertension, treating abnormal heart rhythms, stopping smoking and prescribing statins. Bread and cereal manufacturers could also prevent 8,000 strokes a year in England by reducing their salt content.

In response to the report's findings, the foundation will soon launch a programme with hospitals in the North West of England. The programme aims to increase by an estimated 30 per cent the number of people in the region who survive a stroke and ensure that many more stroke survivors leave hospital without a long-term disability by 2010.

The programme is being run in partnership with the Stroke Association and the Royal College of Physicians.

For more information and to read the report, see www.health.org.uk

Topics