Suspected stroke must be scanned ‘within hour’

Britain’s senior medical body has called for all patients suspected of having had a stroke to be given a brain scan within one hour, in a drive to boost survival rates by 10 per cent.

The Royal College of Physicians called for the rest of the country to follow the example of London, where all at-risk patients undergo CT scans within 60 minutes. Previous guidelines allowed hospitals 12 hours in which to administer the scans, but the RCP said yesterday that this meant critical opportunities to give lifesaving treatment were squandered.