A SPECIALIST unit helping stroke victims in Bury has been named the best in the country.

The specialist Primary Stroke Unit at Fairfield General Hospital is now rated as number one out of more than 200 in England.

The unit has received the highest rating possible for patients access to care by The Sentinel Stroke National Audit Programme (SSNAP).

Dr Khalil Kawafi, director of stroke services at The Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust and stroke lead for the strategic network and senate across Greater Manchester, said: “I am proud to say that all stroke services in Greater Manchester are scoring an A, with Fairfield General Hospital and Salford Royal rated first and second best across the UK respectively.

“This achievement is a testimony to the hard work, dedication and collaborative working of the stroke community in Greater Manchester under the stewardship of the stroke clinical network.

“Since we launched the seven day hyper acute service across Greater Manchester two years ago we have seen a sustained improvement in the care our stroke patients receive according to the SSNAP.”

The hyper acute service – which includes urgent assessments, brain scanning and specialist stroke staff – has seen patients receive better quality hospital care and timely specialist treatment.

SSNAP rates stroke services rated Fairfield General Hospital’s Stroke Unit, one of three specialist stroke units in Greater Manchester, as the best in England out of 228 units nationally.

It was closely followed by Salford Royal, also a specialist stroke unit, in second place and Trafford General’s stroke unit in fourth.

In Greater Manchester around 6,000 people have a stroke each year.

Network co-clinical lead, Dr Jane Molloy added: “The excellent ratings now being achieved in Greater Manchester are the result of hard work by our local clinical teams, whose efforts have successfully implemented better stroke care leading to better outcomes for our patients.

“With 80 percent of strokes preventable, the Greater Manchester Stroke Operational Delivery Network will now work to reduce the number of people that have a stroke through health education and lifestyle changes.”