National stroke audit

Australians suffer more than 1,000 strokes a week but hospital services around the country are often non-existent, according to the National Stroke Foundation.

Following a national audit, it found less than a quarter of hospitals had a stroke unit. The foundation also found emergency departments were ill equipped to deal with patients suffering a stroke.

The foundation’s chief executive, Dr Erin Lalor, says more stroke units should be a high priority, but that one of the key problems is the significant lack of funding in the country to treat the condition.

“We recognise that there are competing health needs across Australia and we are not suggesting stroke units need to go into every hospital,” he said.

“But certainly there is a priority to put them into hospitals that admit large numbers of stroke patients and we are identifying that as more than 200 patients a year.”