New data reported by The Independent shows that stroke wards in hospitals across the country are severely short-staffed; experts warn that services could be forced to close and lives put at risk.
The Stroke Association warns of a crisis in stroke care that has worsened in recent years with the situation described as a “ticking time bomb” as the number of strokes is predicted to rise by 50,000 a year in just five years.
A national audit of stroke care has found that 70 per cent of hospitals (100 out of 142) were failing to meet a target of three nurses for every 10 beds working at weekends. This is despite research showing the presence of nurses on a stroke ward seven days a week is more important than doctors in reducing patient deaths. The Stroke Association said the scale of the problem “puts thousands of lives at risk and leaves many more stroke survivors under threat of a lifetime of severe disability”.
Full story in The Independent, 18 January 2020