Stroke champions needed to combat lagging services in Wales

29 April 2010

On 21 April 2010, the National Assembly’s Health, Wellbeing and Local Government Committee called for a unified strategy with stroke champions to combat lagging stroke services in Wales.

The report which was launched at The Stroke Association's office in St Asaph made a series of recommendations to the Welsh Government, including creating more dedicated stroke units in hospitals and ending the postcode lottery surrounding access to specialist services.

Committee Chair Darren Millar AM said “The committee agreed to conduct an inquiry into stroke services in Wales following a series of negative reports from the Royal College of Physicians in 2004 and 2006.

Unfortunately, our inquiry has shown that some of the original concerns outlined by these external audits have yet to be addressed, although some improvements have been made.

Strokes are the third most common cause of death, and given that evidence shows specific service improvements can decrease patient mortality and disability, it is vital that our recommendations are acted upon to improve services for those affected by stroke.

The committee urges the Welsh Government to consider establishing an all-Wales stroke strategy led by stroke champions or team leaders who can tackle these issues and bring Welsh services up to the same level as the rest of the UK.”

Ana Palazon, Director for Wales at The Stroke Association comments, "We warmly welcome this public launch of the Health, Wellbeing and Local Government Committee’s Inquiry into Stroke Services in Wales.

The publication of this report calls for a strategy and makes 25 long awaited and necessary recommendations covering prevention, acute care, early and continued rehabilitation as well as the need for research leadership and funding.

However, any credible stroke services strategy must be linked up to a wider strategy for tackling health inequalities and longer-term social care needs. We look to a commitment form the Welsh Assembly to an outcome-based, all Wales strategic approach, underpinned by realistic resources."