A NEW review of services for stroke sufferers in Havering has said that its after-stroke services are below the national average.

The assessment, by care regulator the Care Quality Commission, rates Havering’s after-stroke services as being “least well performing”, scoring below-average marks in nine of the 15 areas which were judged.

Havering Primary Care Trust scored the lowest possible mark for involvement in planning and monitoring services for stroke survivors and carers, and in providing extra support to help people return home as soon as possible.

The report is at odds with an assessment by Commissioning Support for London, released in December, which said that people in Havering have a better than average chance of surviving a stroke and that the service as a whole was improving.

NHS Havering said that they have made major improvements in recent months, including opening a new unit at Queen’s Hospital, increasing staff numbers, reducing rehabilitation waiting times and providing more support for stroke patients and carers.

A spokesperson said: “During 2010, specialist therapy services provided at home for Havering patients recovering from stroke have improved significantly. NHS Havering has provided increased funding to recruit more staff and reduce waiting times for treatment.”

The acute hyper acute stroke unit at Queen’s is one of eight across London, and the spokesman said: “The new units have given stroke patients in London better access to life-saving treatment than any other major city in the world.”

In the new report Havering only scored the highest possible mark in the category of preventing a repeat stroke.

The report did not judge the services on offer at the unit Queen’s Hospital itself but the services provided by the Primary Care Trust after a person has a stroke.