Stroke Sufferers

It is always instructive when hon. Members, from whatever side of the House they come, bring personal experience to bear, and that applies to the hon. Gentleman's comment. On the Government's objectives, I will let the Minister explain how the Government have done so far, but if the hon. Gentleman allows me to make my case, he will hear that we now have a strategy, for the first time, on some aspects. I hope that we shall move towards implementation and action on those aspects. There have been many improvements, even in the past two years. Next month will be the first anniversary of the launch of the national stroke strategy for England. At that time, the Secretary of State said:"““It has the potential to create a revolution in stroke care.””" What a marvellous comment for any Secretary of State to be able to make about any issue—that it will create a revolution if we do it right. He also said:"““The strategy is constructed around twenty 'quality markers' of a good stroke service covering four key areas””—" I shall cover those four areas this morning. They are:"““raising awareness and prevention; the importance of rapid assessment and treatment; provision of rehabilitation and care after stroke; and developing the workforce to meet these markers.””—[Official Report, 5 December 2007; Vol. 468, c. 70WS.]" Although we are only a year on from that publication, there are some good initial signs that stroke care is now being afforded a higher priority by health and social care providers. The most obvious example is that the existing cardiac networks throughout the UK have taken on the additional responsibility of stroke, so there are now 29 stroke and cardiac networks covering the whole of England. In addition, the operating framework for the NHS now identifies stroke as a national priority, and in addition to that, the requirements on primary care trusts are reinforced in the three-year operational plans that they must put forward, which are monitored and performance-managed by strategic health authorities. Implementation of the stroke strategy is a ““must-do””. It is no longer a Cinderella; it is no longer marginalised; it is no longer on the periphery. It is now a ““must-do”” at the centre of the operational plans. I am sure that all hon. Members welcome that. Monitoring will include two key indicators: the number of patients who spend at least 90 per cent. of their time on a stroke unit, and the percentage of patients with higher risk transient ischaemic attacks—mini-strokes—who are treated within 24 hours. When will the information on progress on those two indicators be published so that all of us—MPs, the Stroke Association, stroke patients and so on—will be able to measure progress?