Stroke services have shown marked improvement in the last two years, an audit by the Royal College of Physicians has shown. The audit of 224 hospitals in all areas of the UK except Scotland found near universal provision of specialist stroke beds.
About 30 per cent offer thrombo-lysis for stroke and waits for imaging have been cut in line with National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence recommendations.
The report says there has been major improvement "across the whole stroke pathway since 2006 with some areas, particularly acute stroke care and the management of transient ischaemic attack, demonstrating dramatic changes".
A new emphasis
But the report says only 16 per cent of stroke patients are admitted directly to a stroke unit. The college wants this increase to 100 per cent. And it has called for a new emphasis on early supported discharge and development of seven-day rehabilitation services.
Services in England are much better than in Wales and Northern Ireland, it says.
A Stroke Association spokesman said: "There is a powerful consensus for change and this audit demonstrates we are gaining momentum."
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