MORE than 31,000 stroke survivors are missing out on a specialist treatment due to increased ambulance delays, new figures show.

Only 10.3 per cent of stroke sufferers now receive treatment thrombolysis, a drug that dissolves blood clots, within the four-and- a-half-hour timeframe of symptoms of a stroke appearing.

The figures were published today by Sentinel Stroke National Audit Programme, the biggest stroke data project in Britain.

Stroke Association chief executive Juliet Bouverie said: “We’re extremely worried that stroke survivors’ lives and recoveries are being put at risk when they aren’t able to access vital treatments such as thrombolysis due to treatment delays. 

“Stroke is a medical emergency and every minute is critical, so it’s vitally important that we are able to get patients to hospital and into stroke treatment as quickly as possible. 

“Government and NHS leaders must act now to address immediate issues.”