Issue(s)

Improving operations and programme delivery

Improving local service delivery

Oversight of service delivery

Parent department

Department of Health (DH)

Related documents

Progress in improving stroke care (Feb 2010)

Reducing Brain Damage: Faster access to better stroke care (Nov 2005)

We found that the NHS was not making best use of proven clinical practices in stroke care that were known to improve patient outcomes and reduce costs. These included specialist stroke units, brain scanning and early supported discharge. Slow progress in implementing best practice meant that stroke patients were staying in hospital longer than necessary.

Impact: Our findings accelerated change, prompting the Department of Health to develop a national strategy for stroke care and the NHS to adopt clinical best practice more widely. Our recommendations helped improve outcomes for stroke patients through faster access to tests and specialist treatment, and the associated efficiencies helped save the NHS an estimated £456 million between 2007-08 and 2013-14.

Calculation of financial impact attributable to NAO:

We looked at hospital trusts' reported expenditure on the cost of providing stroke care services to estimate the increased efficiency between 2006-07 and 2013-14. Applying the reduction in unit costs from the base year of 2006-07 to the number of hospital admissions for stroke each year gave us a total efficiency saving of £456m over the 7-year period, after adjusting for inflation. We attribute 30% of this saving to our impact, equating to £136m. This reflects the impetus for change that our reports brought about, but recognises that other stakeholders have focused on this issue and that the department played a key role in delivering the improvements.