Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 23 November 2016 to Question 53721, what estimate he has made of the number of sustainable transformation plan areas with stroke service reconfiguration in their plans.

Receiving rapid diagnoses and medical treatment is vital for the survival and recovery of stroke patients. Across England there is a variation in the level of care for survivors, and there is strong evidence that more specialist stroke units providing high quality care 24 hours a day, seven days a week will save more lives and support recovery. Data from the Sentinel Stroke National Audit Programme has shown that there is a strong relationship between the number of patients and the quality of care from the greater experience these more practiced clinicians have, access to costly specialised facilities and equipment available.

In 2014 NHS England published the NHS Five Year Forward View. This is being implemented through 44 local Sustainability and Transformation Plans (STPs). These plans are partnerships between local National Health Service organisations, councils and others who are now working more closely together than ever.

Plans are at various stages of development for stroke services. NHS England’s National Clinical Director for stroke continues to support partners within each of the 44 areas to develop their plans to achieve the best outcomes for stroke care. The arrangement of stroke services is a matter for local decision makers using the best clinical evidence available. This may include the creation of specialist stroke services, where clinically appropriate and supported by decision makers, staff, residents and transport infrastructure. NHS and local government partners are currently engaging communities on their draft plans, and no change to services people currently receive will be made without consultation where it is required. Each organisation collaborating on an STP retains its usual duties to engage local people on any new proposals. There are longstanding assurance processes in place to make sure this happens.