STROKE services are set to improve, with hospital managers pushing a suite of improvements - including hiring two top brain doctors.

Directors at the Great Western Hospital heard at a meeting of the hospital’s board this week that two neurologists with an interest in stroke care had been hired.

The appointments were made as part of efforts to improve the quality of GWH’s stroke care.

Hospital bosses admitted that their performance against national targets had declined over the last two years. To date this year only a quarter (26 per cent) of stroke patients have been checked into the specialised stroke unit within four hours of being admitted to hospital.

Hospital managers have worked with health experts from the Royal College of Physicians’ national “Sentinel” stroke programme, to improve stroke care in the hospital.

They have earmarked two beds for stroke patients and will designate a bay on one ward as a “hyper acute stroke unit” to make sure the most seriously ill stroke patients get the right care. The new beds will be ready from this month.

Care of stroke patients will be overseen by consultant neurologist Dr Stefan Hinze, hospital managers said.

And a review of therapy at the hospital will see if more support could be found for stroke unit staff at the weekends.

Adrian Griffiths, GWH’s chief operating officer, told hospital directors: “The clinical quality of the [stroke] service is high.” But he hoped that the plans would help boost GWH’s scores against national targets.