The NHS must ensure stroke victims receive brain scans within three hours of arriving in hospital to prevent avoidable death and disability, campaigners said today.
Less than one-third of patients are given a potentially life-saving scan for bleeding in the brain on the same day of their arrival in hospital, even when one is requested within 30 minutes of admission, the Different Strokes charity said.
The organisation, which supports young stroke survivors, called for a change in the guidelines on CT scans - a sophisticated type of x-ray used to diagnose strokes.
Its report, entitled A Bleeding Shame, said fast access to scans could save lives, reduce disability and cut costs for the NHS. However, it added that audits of stroke services revealed many patients waited hours for a scan.
"As this report shows, once patients reach hospital they are unlikely to receive effective early intervention, primarily because they do not receive a scan quickly enough," Christina Meacham, the Different Strokes chief executive, said.
"This causes unnecessary death and disability. A target for scanning within three hours on arrival at hospital will not only increase opportunities for existing and emerging therapies, but will help reduce the financial burden of stroke care, which costs the NHS £2.8bn a year."
The charity said immediate scanning was the most cost effective way of diagnosing a stroke and the type of stroke a patient had suffered.
Its report came as the Commons' public accounts committee today began an investigation into NHS stroke care following a scathing report from the National Audit Office.
The NAO report, published last November, said quicker access to scans, drugs and rehabilitation services could improve recovery rates and save around £16m.
Jon Barrick, the chief executive of the Stroke Association, said he hoped the PAC inquiry would put pressure on the government to implement the recommendations.
"Stroke services in many areas of the country are unsophisticated, inefficient, under-resourced and out of date," he said.
"This puts lives at risk. Health professionals struggle to treat patients properly, and stroke survivors are unable to get the life-changing rehabilitation they need. Strokes have been a low priority in our health service for too long."
