A NATIONAL report on stroke care has ranked NHS Forth Valley eighth out of Scotland’s 14 regional health boards.

The Scottish Stroke Care Audit Report also ranked Forth Valley Royal Hospital 18 out of 32 hospitals for its stroke care.

Auditors found that in 2013 the hospital performed well in the time it took for people to receive a brain scan but faltered in other areas.

In particular, only 73 per cent of all patients who came to hospital with a stroke were admitted to the Stroke Unit within a day – the national target is set at a minimum of 90 per cent. NHS Forth Valley says the latest figures show an increase in admissions to 87 per cent.

A spokesperson for UK charity, Stroke Association, said, “Stroke care performance in Forth Valley is good sitting at eighth out of the 14 regional health boards. Forth Valley Royal Hospital’s stroke care performance is also generally good where it sits at 18th out of 32 hospitals. The hospital has performed particularly well in the time in which people receive a brain scan, but falls short of meeting the other standards and in some cases by as much as 17 per cent.” The Scottish Stroke Care Audit Report looks at the quality of stroke care across Scotland against a set of standards of diagnosis and treatment.

They include receiving a brain scan quickly to diagnose stroke and getting admitted to a stroke unit.

Auditors found that the Larbert hospital met the 90 per cent target for giving patients a brain scan within 24 hours of their admission to hospital, however it under performed in admitting patients to the stroke care unit and giving them a swallow screen and aspirin.

The standards recommend that at least 90 per cent of all patients should be checked to see if they can swallow safely on the day they come into hospital and that all patients with blocked blood vessels should have aspirin within a day of their admission to hospital. For each of these standards, auditors found that Forth Valley Royal Hospital performed at 75 per cent and 91 per cent, respectively.

A spokeswoman for NHS Forth Valley said, “Improving care for patients who have experienced a stroke is a key priority for NHS Forth Valley and the recent audit report highlights a number of areas where we are performing well against the national standards.

“Significant improvements have also been made over the last year since the audit was carried out. For example, the number of patients with a diagnosis of stroke being admitted to a stroke unit within one day of admission in Forth Valley has increased to 87 per cent, for the most recent quarter in 2014, from 73 per cent in 2013.”