ISD Scotland have published their annual Scottish Stroke Care Audit. It shows that performance has improved in Scotland from 65% in 2017 to 68% in 2018 but falls short of the 80% standard.
During 2018 9,641 stroke patients were admitted to Scottish hospitals. An additional 1,085 were seen at neurovascular (TIA) clinics.
And the number of patients receiving thrombolysis was 1,033 in 2018, similar to the number in 2017 (1,056).
However, the College wants Scottish patients to benefit from the full range of stroke treatments.
Professor Derek Bell, President of the College, said
This report shows continuing improvement in the delivery of many aspects of stroke care in Scotland. However, we believe that a full range of effective treatments should be available to Scottish patients. It is therefore disappointing that a key treatment – mechanical thrombectomy – is still not available in Scotland.
Mechanical thrombectomy is an emergency treatment which can prevent significant life-changing disability in selected patients with severe strokes. There is inequality of provision of this service between Scotland and other countries worldwide - and even between England and Scotland.
We are pleased that the Scottish Government have started the process of planning a thrombectomy service. However, we would urge that resources are made available to ensure there are no avoidable delays in its implementation.
1. The latest Scottish Stroke Care Report is here.
