An annual audit by the Royal College of Physicians has once again found stroke services in Wales are lagging behind those in England and Northern Ireland.
It has highlighted the lack of a 24-hour service to ensure patients have access to life-saving clot-busting drugs round the clock.
Only two of the UK’s 75 acute stroke units are in Wales and the nation has fewer qualified nurses caring for patients.
This is at least the sixth year the audit has highlighted worrying shortcomings in Welsh stroke care.
An area of particular concern is the lack of 24-hour thrombolysis in Wales – access to clot-busting drugs within four-and-a-half hours after a stroke can improve the chance of recovery for suitable patients.
The audit report states although there has been a dramatic increase in the number of units providing a 24/7 service, progress in Wales in delivering “comprehensive” acute stroke care, including thrombolysis is “too slow”.
It said Wales still needs to increase the number of stroke care beds and the quality of stroke units.
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