The Stroke Association has claimed that a lack of specialist stroke units in NHS hospitals is to blame for over 12,000 dying or becoming disabled each year following a stroke.

Melanie Johnson, public health minister, told ePolitix.com: "We take services for stroke patients very seriously and are working hard to improve the care patients receive in hospital.

"By April next year 171 out of 181 hospitals will be providing specialist stroke services with a team of dedicated health professionals in place with expertise in this area.

"That's 94 per cent of hospitals that are well on their way to introducing this service. The 83 per cent quoted by Stroke Association is from 2002 and we've made real progress since then.

"However, I agree with The Stroke Association that services do need to improve and we will continue to build on the progress that has already been made."

Forum Response: The Stroke Association

Jerry Doyle, director of public relations at The Stroke Association, told ePolitix.com: "People are dying because stroke is not always treated as the emergency it is.

"Stroke patients are left on general wards, where there is no specialist equipment or staff. There are delays on brain scans and sometimes no brain scans at all.

"They deserve better treatment than this. It's a national scandal. We ask the government to tackle the stroke postcode lottery."