SNP ‘running clock down on stroke patients’, says Jackie Baillie
The SNP “is letting the clock run down on stroke patients”, Jackie Baillie has warned.
The comments made by Scottish Labour’s health spokesperson come after new figures released by Public Health Scotland last week showed stroke patients are now waiting nearly 10 minutes longer for treatment than they were in 2018.
The time between calling for an ambulance and receiving treatment to remove the blood clot – known as thrombolysis – has increased to more than two hours, while the time between an ambulance arriving at a patient and departing to the hospital has also increased, according to analysis of the latest Scottish Stroke Improvement figures by Scottish Labour.
Patients in the most remote areas faced waits that were more than 30 minutes longer than those in Forth Valley, which has the shortest time to treatment.
Meanwhile, the proportion of stroke patients who received thrombolysis within 30 minutes fell in half of the 14 health boards.
No patients in Shetland, Orkney or the Western Isles received the procedure in 2024, while more than a quarter in Tayside and Forth Valley did.
Patients treated in the Borders experienced an average of two and a half hours' wait between calling for an ambulance and receiving thrombolysis. Just five per cent of those patients received the procedure in 2023, while none did in 2024.
Baillie said: “These figures are a stark reminder that under the SNP stroke patients face a postcode lottery.
“Modern technology has the potential to transform the lives of stroke survivors, yet after nearly two decades in power, the SNP can't keep up with services elsewhere.
“The SNP is letting the clock run down on stroke patients.”
Last week, leading health charity, Chest, Heart and Stroke Scotland, said the Scottish Government had failed stroke victims said after Public Health Scotland figures showed stroke care targets had been missed for the seventh year in a row.
It was revealed that only 52.9 per cent of patients had received an inpatient bundle – care that includes aspirin, access to a stroke unit, brain imaging, and swallow screening.
The Scottish Government’s target is to have 80 per cent of people receiving the bundle.
The findings from the Scottish Stroke Care Audit also highlighted only 212 thrombectomy procedures, which quickly remove blood clots, were delivered in 202 to just 2.2 per cent of eligible patients – well below the target of ten per cent.
Chief executive of Chest, Heart and Stroke Scotland, Allan Cowie, said: “This is the seventh straight year that the Scottish Government has failed to hit its own targets for stroke care.
“This government has failed stroke survivors and is failing our NHS colleagues who are doing the absolute best they can with the inadequate resources they’re currently being given.”
Responding to the figures, public health minister Jenni Minto pointed to some improvements in stroke care in the last year, including the growth of thrombectomy procedures, but said there was “more to do”.
She said: “We're focused on ensuring people who have had a stroke receive the best possible care as quickly as possible to enable them to live longer, healthier, and more independent lives. We will continue to work with health boards to drive up standards of local care.
“We know there is more to do but it is pleasing to see a rise in the number of patients receiving thrombectomy treatment. We will continue work towards increasing access to these procedures.”
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