Britain’s stroke shame

The Independent on Sunday, which i bought at Euston station today to get a free bottle of water (it wasn’t worth it – I feel cheated), featured this report about stoke management.

According to the Royal College of Physicians, stroke thrombolysis is occurring in under 1% of strokes, while less than 50% are having head CTs within 24 hours. The article goes on to describe forthcoming NICE guidelines:

According to Nice, all patients should be scanned, diagnosed and, if needed, treated with a clot-busting drug within an hour of the stroke. Currently only 0.8 per cent of stroke patients are treated this rapidly.

In an ideal world, but how many strokes present within an hour of onset? Many present on waking up or when a patient is found by a carer or relative – but its easier to blame “ignorance among NHS staff”.

Nice say patients with mini-strokes should be investigated and treated within 24 hours to minimise the risk of a major stroke and it says all stroke patients should be cared for in specialist units by highly skilled teams with access to the best equipment and technology.