Health officials in Portsmouth and south-east Hampshire will share a £4.2m pot of cash from the Department of Health.
The cash – part of a £77m investment in stroke services in England in the next three years – will be used to improve access to re
habilitation services and response times.
This could include reorganising emergencyresponse, stroke teams and radiology units to ensure stroke patients have rapid access to scans and a vital cot busting drug.
NHS South Central has the lowest incidence of stroke in the country at a rate of 3.4 per 1,000 people in 2005/6.
However the number of strokes in the region rocketed by 20 per cent between 1997 and 2006.
Head of patient safety for the region Gail Byrne said: 'The additional funding is fantastic news for stroke services across the region. The money will be invested in improving local services to meet the increasing demand.'
National clinical director for stroke, Professor Roger Boyle, said: 'Treating stroke as an emergency will save lives. The challenge now for the NHS is to accelerate its response to stroke.
'Some people will benefit from clot-busting drugs, but everyone can benefit from getting into hospital quickly, being seen by a specialist and scanned within three hours of feeling unwell.'
Health minister Ann Keen said: 'Stroke survivors often say that the full impact of their condition only hits them once they leave hospital.
'For some, this can feel like a time of abandonment, when it is hard to know how to access help. That is why extra investment in social services is so important.'
The full article contains 297 words and appears in NS-City newspaper.
