The Department of Health has said it is committed to ending the postcode lottery for stroke victims.

The Whitehall ministry was responding to issues raised by Eoin Redahan, director of public relations for the Stroke Association.In an interview with ePolitix.com he said that where people live often determined the care they received.

"The situation with stroke patients is that a quarter of them are treated in a stroke unit, so 75 per cent of them aren't. And where you live can actually be a major factor in whether you get into a stroke unit or not," Redahan told this website.

He also called for more action to raise awareness of the preventative measures available.

"The department has a number of prevention campaigns concentrating mainly on cancer and heart disease. We feel that if the department emphasised the stroke element, it would give them an extra angle to get information across," he said.

"For example, when they featured a no-smoking campaign a year ago, they featured someone who had suffered a stroke. And the feedback they got from the smoking Quitline afterwards was that people hadn't connected stroke with smoking. They knew about cancer and heart disease but weren't aware of the serious disabilities that can occur after a stroke."

A spokesman for the Department of Health told ePolitix.com: "We are determined to improve stroke services, and to make sure that we end the postcode lottery of access to stroke care.

"That's why delivery of the National Service Framework for Older People that set out key milestones for stroke services has been recognised as a priority. The improvements will apply to all patients, wherever they happen to live.

"We already know that 83 per cent of hospitals have met the April 2002 milestone that every hospital that cares for people with stroke will have plans in place to introduce a specialised stroke service from 2004.

"We published information aimed to help local health and social care organisations to identify the key aspects in developing quality services, and we will continue to liase and work closely with the Stroke Association."