Johnson sets out NHS stroke plan
The health secretary Alan Johnson today unveiled details of the government’s new stroke strategy, designed to ensure faster treatment and save lives.
The plan focuses on the NHS’ emergency response to strokes, with the requirement anyone with a suspected stroke is immediately transferred to a specialist centre.
Anyone that suffers a minor stroke and is in a high-risk group will also receive a MRI scan within 24 hours, Mr Johnson pledged.
The government hopes the strategy will also raise awareness about symptoms and risk factors.
Health campaigners welcomed the renewed focus on stroke care, with strokes the third leading cause of death in the UK.
If implemented, it is estimated today’s strategy could save up to 6,800 lives and cases of disability a year, with a further 1,600 strokes averted through preventative work.
Alan Johnson said: “This is a bold vision for the delivery of world-class stroke services, from prevention right through to life-long support. There is no excuse for standing still.”
Further requirements put forward in the strategy are for all stroke patients to spend the majority of their hospital time on a stroke unit.
Mr Johnson said patients would also be given access to high quality rehabilitation to allow people to return home faster.
Among the people that go on to survive a stroke, a third are left with long-term disabilities.
The health secretary continued: “Despite the considerable gains in developing stroke units and falling mortality rates, there remains much to be done to bring stroke services in line with those for cancer and heart disease.
“Now is the time to close that gap. We can and we must now give stroke the attention it deserves. Saving thousands of lives is a prize too great to ignore.”
The Liberal Democrats said the government must match international examples of best practice, with the UK lagging behind Europe on standards of stroke care.
Lib Dem health spokesman Norman Lamb said ministers must also ensure today’s strategy is actually implemented.
The Conservatives said the stroke strategy was long-overdue.
Shadow health secretary Andrew Lansley said it was a “scandal” stroke services had not been a priority for Labour for the past ten years when strokes are the third leading cause of death.
Jon Barrick, chief executive of the Stroke Association, welcomed the strategy as a historic time for stroke care.
Mr Barrick said: “No longer will stroke be seen as an inevitable, untreatable consequence of old age. This is a momentous opportunity to transform the outcomes and lives of stroke survivors in this country.”
