Contribution
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Ms Vaz. I congratulate the hon. Member for Twickenham (Munira Wilson) on securing this important debate.
Strokes are life-threatening medical emergencies that affect more than 100,000 people in the UK every year, taking over 38,000 lives and leaving many survivors with life-changing disabilities. A study in The Lancet Healthy Longevity estimated their annual cost to be £8 billion, comprising public spending on care and lost economic productivity. The number of cases is rising—in England, stroke admissions increased by 28% from 2005 to 2024—and, as the Stroke Association has said, demographic reality makes it all the more urgent for the Government to take action today to improve stroke care and reduce modifiable risk factors. As we have heard, when stroke care is delayed, the typical victim loses 1.9 million neurones for each minute they are untreated. Of course, delay is measured not just in brain cells, but in lost independence, lost potential and, all too often, lost lives.
The Government cannot just acknowledge the challenge; they must act. The previous Government designated stroke as a national priority area in the 2019 NHS long-term plan, with several commitments to improve prevention, treatment and care. We set out to increase the proportion of people receiving clot-removing thrombectomy to end their stroke, improve post-hospital stroke rehab models for patients, and enhance the Sentinel Stroke National Audit Programme. That important work was led by a network of 20 integrated stroke delivery networks, which were established in 2021, with a national service model setting out best practice. The previous Government also invested more than £57 million in mechanical thrombectomy, and by the end of 2023, 24 centres were open and delivering mechanical thrombectomy across England. Do the Government have a delivery plan to create more of those centres, or do they think there are enough?
Prior to the general election, the previous Government began work on a major conditions strategy to improve the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of six major conditions, including stroke, but rather than see it through, this Labour Government chose to take an axe to progress, pausing the scheme in August 2024 and, a year later, announcing a service framework for cardiovascular diseases in the 10-year plan. Have the Government incorporated the strategy’s findings in the 10-year plan? The plan mentions stroke just twice, and only in the context of smoking and obesity.
I am pleased that the Government have shown an interest in reducing modifiable risk factors. Prevention is always better than cure. Those categorised as obese face an elevated risk of stroke—64% higher than those of healthy weight—and one in five children leaves primary school obese. We spoke about obesity in this morning’s debate, but I did not get answers to most of my questions. I appreciate that the Minister is covering for someone this afternoon, but will he undertake to get answers not just to the questions asked in this debate, but to those asked in this morning’s?
I am encouraged to see Ministers showing an interest in furthering the previous Government’s work to tackle smoking, a habit to which one in four strokes is directly attributable, but it seems to be taking quite a long time. Just yesterday, health leaders warned that more than 120,000 young people have started smoking since the Tobacco and Vapes Bill was introduced. Will the Minister assure us that the Government will prioritise the Bill and pass it without delay?
High blood pressure remains the single biggest risk factor for strokes, and it is generally asymptomatic, which is why it is so important that tests are carried out in locations that are convenient for people. Last year, community pharmacies in England delivered more than 140,000 blood pressure checks and diagnosed nearly 11,000 cases of hypertension. As the Government complete the latest round of pharmacy negotiations, will the Minister commit to expanding that service further, so that pharmacies can detect more cases and prevent more strokes?
The Government’s delay to the NHS workforce plan is particularly concerning. We need enough doctors to train to perform thrombectomy and care for patients, and enough physios, occupational therapists, nurses, speech therapists and so on to support rehabilitation. After the Government cancelled the major conditions strategy last summer, their 10-year plan promised a service framework, as I said. Given that they have now delayed the workforce plan, the cancer plan, the neonatal and maternity plan and the HIV plan, will the Minister assure the House that they will not also delay the service framework for cardiovascular disease? We need action and not just words, so will the Minister explain what the Government have done materially to improve early stroke diagnosis since they came to office?
Stroke care is not only about medical interventions. For many survivors, recovery starts when they return home and have to re-learn to walk, speak and carry out daily tasks, so access to physiotherapy, occupational therapy, speech and language therapy and other support is vital. How do the Government plan to improve that provision, and what are they doing to provide psychological support to the families of stroke victims and victims themselves, especially in cases where there is a change of personality or emotional disturbance?
Prevention is better than cure. Work on smoking, obesity and high blood pressure are important. In the event of a stroke, every minute counts. Every minute the Government spend perfecting plans instead of putting things into action is a minute of suffering that could have been spared.