Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the use of hyper-acute stroke units on patient outcomes.

Centralising stroke care into a smaller number of larger units provides the opportunity to ensure that there are specialist nurses and doctors available to manage patients at all times, and provides immediate access to imaging and other investigatory facilities if required.

Benefits of the system have been shown in Manchester and London with reduced mortality and more efficient use of resources. Most other parts of the country have implemented similar changes, or are planning to.