How to Have a Stroke in Wales

Welsh stroke services still failing.

Services for stroke victims in Wales have been called scandalously bad by top specialists and this investigation by Week In Week Out reveals that the NHS is still struggling to make the necessary improvements.

Dr Tony Rudd, who authored a highly criticial report two years for the Royal College of Physicians, said stroke care in Wales has been at levels which should make Welsh politicians ashamed.

In response the Welsh Assembly Government promised improvements,including a target that by March this year, all stroke patients would be able to access a properly staffed stroke unit in Wales.

However, at least one hospital says it's 'many millions of pounds away from that' while a stroke specialist at another Welsh hospital claims the Welsh Assembly Government needs and lacks a strategy to improve stroke care.
Dr Anne Freeman, one of the senior medical specialists working with the Welsh Assemly Governments' Stroke Services Improvement Project, admitted that stroke care could not be changed overnight. She said twelve out of twenty Welsh hospital units had improved stroke care since the report.

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