Context

In England and Wales, over 80,000 people are hospitalised with acute stroke each year, and cerebrovascular disease is the third leading cause of disability in the UK [1].

Until the last decade, there was little in the way of treatment to offer the acute stroke patient.

With the licensing of thrombolysis for acute ischaemic stroke, the lack of evidence-based therapeutic intervention has changed dramatically.

As a result, a suspected stroke must always be treated as a medical emergency.

Emergency department (ED) staff need to have excellent stroke recognition skills, and agreed care bundles in place for the diagnosis, and treatment, of cerebrovascular events.

In addition, there should be an increased awareness that good, basic medical and nursing care is vitally important in preventing complications, and optimising outcomes.

A national stroke strategy was published in 2007 by the UK Department of Health [2].

Learning Bite

Strokes account for 11% of all deaths in England and Wales each year.