Stroke Services

HC Deb 09 December 2003 vol 415 cc902-3

7. Sandra Gidley (Romsey) (LD)

What the latest average waiting time is for a scan for patients with a suspected stroke. [142548]

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health (Miss Melanie Johnson)

The information is not collected centrally. The target in this area is to achieve a CT or MRI scan in less than 48 hours. The 2001–02 national sentinel stroke audit reported that more patients than ever had had brain imaging, with at least 83 per cent. meeting that target.

Sandra Gidley

I hope that the Minister is not complacent about those figures because they mean that almost 20,000 people did not receive the required service in the required time. As such targets are part of the national service framework, does the fact that the information is not monitored centrally mean that NSFs are not worth the paper that they are written on?

Miss Johnson

I do not think anyone in the Chamber or outside it will give any credence to that line. One target in the priorities and planning framework for 2003 to 2006 requires the establishment of specialist stroke services by April 2004, which are important in all hospitals that care for people who have a stroke. At least three quarters of hospitals already have specialist stroke services. The local delivery plans show that 94 per cent. aim to meet that target soon.

Mr. Richard Bacon (South Norfolk) (Con)

Will the latest average waiting time for a scan for patients with a suspected stroke be recorded in the national programme for IT in the health service, the contracts for which have been signed with unseemly haste despite the concerns of many in the industry? Can the Minister confirm whether a significant financial bonus has been given to the director general of IT, Mr. Richard Granger, for signing the contracts by a specific date?

Miss Johnson

I am surprised at the hon. Gentleman's line of questioning. The third national sentinel stroke audit said: there has been a revolution over the last few years. Those are not the words of the Department of Health, but come from the audit on patients with stroke. Of course we want to improve services to patients through the IT investment that we are making. I should have thought that hon. Members would universally welcome that.

Mr. Harry Barnes (North-East Derbyshire)(Lab)

Is the Minister aware that if someone has a stroke at the back of the head, it affects their balance, and that the test for that reveals whether someone has multiple sclerosis or has had a stroke? It is assumed that if a person is young, he has MS, and that if he is old, he has had a stroke. That is not exactly scientific because there are other possibilities. The proper way to diagnose people in those circumstances is to do a scan. It is important that that service is developed throughout the country.

Miss Johnson

I am enormously grateful to my hon. Friend for improving my medical education further. That is a useful point. The number of scanners has grown considerably since 1997. Altogether, the number of MRI scanners is expected to increase from 110 in 1997 to 276 by 2004. That is an increase of 151 per cent.

Mr. Andrew Lansley (South Cambridgeshire) (Con

): The Minister referred to the national sentinel stroke audit, which said that only 27 per cent. of stroke patients spent the majority of their time in a specialist stroke unit. Does she agree that what matters most is the character of the specialist unit and whether patients spend time in it? What milestones or targets does the priorities and planning framework suggest for the proportion of patients who receive specialist care?

Miss Johnson

By next April, 95 per cent. of all hospitals will have specialist stroke services. I agree that it is important that services are appropriately tailored to meet patients' needs. We are investing in the NHS to make such provision available, which we base on best practice, spread across the service by the Modernisation Agency. That allows patients to receive the standard of care that Labour Members think they deserve, backed by the investment that will deliver that standard of care.