National Stroke Strategy Debate
Full Debate: Read Full DebateDepartment: Department of Health and Social Care
Lord Rennard
Main Page: Lord Rennard (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)Department Debates - View all Lord Rennard's debates with the Department of Health and Social Care
(7 years, 4 months ago)
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Lord O’Shaughnessy
Well, in order not to fall out with Scottish noble Lords, I shall not comment on that. Under successive Governments there have been improvements in stroke outcomes, which have come about through the centralisation and specialisation of care. That is not always popular because of what it does with reorganisations, but it is definitely paying dividends in England.
Lord Rennard (LD)
My Lords, there is very strong evidence that the number of strokes could be reduced nationally if there was better detection and appropriate treatment of atrial fibrillation. Will the Minister commit to a proper national screening programme to detect this condition and ensure that there is appropriate follow-up treatment for those diagnosed as suffering from atrial fibrillation?
Lord O’Shaughnessy
The noble Lord is quite right to highlight that issue. There is increased screening for atrial fibrillation as part of the community-based efforts to prevent the incidence of stroke, and that has been one of the factors that have reduced the incidence of stroke over the past few years.