This Atlas of Variation covers patients admitted to, and/or discharged from, stroke services between April 2025 and March 2026, and identifies geographical variation in stroke care provided in that period.
Variation is not necessarily unwarranted – differences between areas may reflect population and service characteristics
The report, which provides data by region on stroke admissions, age, therapy and other factors, also looks at predicted stroke incidence in future and prevention. It represents a starting point for clinical leaders to begin examining the key indicators for stroke, and to understand the quality of care delivered. It notes that variation in the delivery of stroke care across populations may be unavoidable, but urges that using enriched stroke data can help to identify the reasons for such variation, and stimulate enquiry to offer solutions.
The report concludes that it is important that organisations responsible for commissioning stroke care benchmark against each other as well as against the national average. Such comparisons will enable services to learn from each other while also providing a platform to support quality improvement across the stroke pathway. Such measures will be important, not only in reducing unwarranted variations in stroke care but also in improving patient outcomes and population health in the long term as part of the 10 Year NHS plan.
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