The hospital death rate for the most common form for stroke has risen for the first time in a decade. The worrying turnaround in mortality for patients suffering ischaemic stroke (caused by a restriction in blood supply to the brain) shows an increases from 76 deaths per 1,000 admitted patients in 2018 to 80 per 1,000 last year. The death rate for haemorrhagic stroke (caused by bleeding on the brain) has not fallen significantly, although it is down from 264 per 1,000 admissions in 2010 to 241 per 1,000 last year. Commenting on the rise in ischaemic stroke deaths rates, Professor Joe Harbison, former national clinical lead for stroke, said: “We are still deficient in number and quality of acute stroke unit beds compared with comparable countries so there is potential further improvement in care.”