Brian Leishman

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms Vaz. I thank the hon. Member for Twickenham (Munira Wilson) for securing this important debate and sharing her mum’s story. One of the best bits of being an MP is meeting individuals and organisations that do so much good across Alloa and Grangemouth, like when I met the Clackmannanshire Stroke Support Group earlier this year. Their courage, spirit and determination in the face of serious adversity was truly inspiring. I will focus on the relationship between deprivation and having a stroke. In Scotland, approximately 13,000 people have a first stroke each year. There are an estimated 150,000 stroke survivors in the country, and recent data shows that people in the most deprived areas are twice as likely to have a stroke as people from the most affluent areas. The relationship between deprivation and stroke mortality is over five times higher for those in the 10% most deprived areas compared with the 10% least deprived, in the under-65 age group. There is a significantly higher risk of dying within a year of having a stroke for those people from more deprived areas. These patients are less likely to receive recommended treatments such as blood thinners for atrial fibrillation, and are more likely to be given less effective alternatives. Chest Heart and Stroke Scotland works hard in communities across Scotland to deliver prevention and support recovery, and to enable people to self-manage their condition. But it cannot be up to organisations to fight this alone. They need help from the Scottish Government, and there must be a much more proactive approach adopted in how healthcare services are delivered. The postcode lottery in what treatment someone receives in Scotland because of where they live really must end.