Health written question – answered at on 13 September 2010.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he plans to take to expedite provision of thrombolysis treatment for stroke victims in (a) the West Midlands and (b) England.
The National Sentinel Stroke audit 2010 shows that patients in 88% of the hospitals which directly admit stroke patients are now able to access this treatment but only 50% of centres provide access 24 hours a day, seven days a week. As the national health service continues to implement the national stroke strategy and develops pathways that improve out of hours access to brain imaging for all eligible patients and, where appropriate, telemedicine, we expect to see a continued increase in rates of delivery of this therapy.
Access to timely brain scans has been identified as a key area for improvement in the Accelerating Stroke Improvement work which we are supporting. This work aims to deliver further progress in improving the whole pathway of stroke care across the country, including the West Midlands, in the current financial year.
Yes1 person thinks so
No0 people think not
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