Department of Health to face questioning on stroke services

On Wednesday 8th February, MPs will put health chiefs on the spot when the Public Accounts Committee questions the Department of Health on its spending and delivery of stroke services.

The Public Accounts Committee will be examining Department of Health expenditure following a scathing report from the National Audit Office (NAO) 'Reducing Brain Damage: Faster access to stroke care'.

Published last November, the report concluded that the status awarded to stroke is not in line with other leading diseases such as heart disease or cancer despite the condition being the third biggest killer (after cancer and heart disease) and the leading cause of severe adult disability in England and Wales.

The report also states that stroke costs the NHS nearly £1 billion more than heart disease a year in terms of direct costs* and has an impact of around £7 billion annually on the wider economy.

According to new research, you are more likely to suffer from a stroke or Transient Ischaemic Attack (TIA more commonly known as mini stroke) than heart disease (1). More than three times more women die of stroke than they do of breast cancer and almost one in four men can expect to have a stroke if they live to 85. (2)

Yet public awareness of the condition is worryingly low. Whilst the Department of Health has strategies in place to modernise services for cancer and coronary heart disease, tackling stroke is hidden in the National Service Framework for Older People, despite the fact that a quarter of all strokes happen in people under 65 (approximately 28,000).

Jon Barrick, Chief Executive of The Stroke Association comments: ‘Stroke services in many areas of the country are unsophisticated, inefficient, under resourced and out of date. This puts lives at risk. Health professionals struggle to treat patients properly and stroke survivors are unable to get the life changing rehabilitation they need.

‘Stroke has been a low priority in our health service for too long. The NAO report recommendations will bring stroke services up to date, save thousands of lives and ease the financial burden of stroke. It is vital that the Government implement all the recommendations and we hope that the investigation by the Public Accounts Committee will ensure this happens.’

The Public Accounts Committee will be questioning key officials from the Department of Health in Committee Room 15 at 3.30pm on Wednesday 8 February. Having gathered the evidence, the Public Accounts Committee will then report its findings on current and future stroke care to Parliament.

For further information, please contact The Stroke Association Press Office on 0207 566 1500, out of hours 07799 436008 or email press@stroke.org.uk

Notes to editor

Facts on Stroke Services

Evidence based clinical guidelines from the Royal College of Physicians states that to save lives (by around 25 per cent) and reduce disability, immediate care through a stroke unit staffed by a multi-disciplinary team, (consultants, therapists and nurses trained in this field) is paramount. Only 47 per cent of stroke patients are admitted to a stroke unit.

Arriving at hospital in an ambulance is the best way to get access to a stroke unit. However only 16 per cent of hospitals have protocols in place with ambulance services to identify and manage stroke patients, this falls to six per cent for TIA patients.

Once arriving at hospital, stroke patients are likely to experience more delays. Treatments such as aspirin or thrombloysis may be dangerous to give a patient with a haemorrhagic stroke as these increase bleeding and possible damage. For this reason CT or MRI scans are vital to diagnose and ensure the right treatment is given. Just 22 per cent of stroke patients receive a scan on the day of their stroke. Most wait two or more days.

But in reality this hinges on the stroke patient calling an ambulance as soon as they experience the symptoms of a stroke. However, just 51 per cent of the population know what a stroke is and only 40% know what the symptoms of a stroke are (3).

Unless stated otherwise, all statistics are from the NOA report Reducing Brain Damage: Faster access to better stroke care.

(1) Peter Rothwell - Oxford Vascular Study
(2) National Sentinel Stroke Audit, organisational audit
(3) Mori poll conducted for Stroke Association
* Direct costs - stay in hospital, diagnosis, tests, rehabilitation etc.

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