Electronic scanners, virtual hospital beds, digitised patient records….: no matter how technological the health solution, every journey towards recovery often starts with a simple phone call. And that’s never more the case than when the call is an emergency.

And yet, there are still far too many instances when that phone call is delayed. Alarmingly a recent analysis of NHS data has revealed that when it comes to strokes, the average time delay between the first onset of symptoms and a 999 call for help was eighty-eight minutes. For a condition in which every minute of delay reduces the chances of recovery, that’s an alarming statistic. Particularly so when you consider that some 100,000 people in the UK experience a stroke each year with 38% going on to lose their lives as a result. 

So what is the problem? Are people so used to making routine health appointments online or via an app that they are reluctant to pick up the phone? Alternatively, are people just not aware enough of the early symptoms of a stroke that they don’t even think of calling for help in the first instance?

Helpfully another new survey might have the answer. Following a number of campaigns there does seem to be a reasonable level of awareness about the FAST (face, arms, speech, time*) mantra for stroke recognition. However, 57% of those surveyed believed that an individual should display two or three signs of a stroke before a call should be made. As a result, despite each one of the face, arms, speech symptoms being enough on their own to signify an emergency, 64% of people for example wouldn’t dial 999 if someone was struggling to smile.

In a bid to overturn this perception, the NHS has commissioned a new advertising campaign which will run across TV and radio. The campaign, which will run until December, illustrates each of the face, arms, speech stroke signs and underlines the importance of acting on just one of these indicators. The campaign launch also features a film which shows stroke survivors listening back to recordings of the calls which saved their lives.

It is hoped that boosting awareness of something as simple as being unable to smile at the TV, not being able to lift a paint brush, or suddenly struggling to read a bedtime story, might trigger an earlier 999 call and thereby improve the chances of a fuller recovery.

Commenting on the campaign Dr David Hargroves, NHS national clinical director for stroke and consultant stroke physician, said: “When someone has a stroke, it’s estimated they may lose around two million brain cells a minute, which is why rapid diagnosis and treatment is critical – the first sign of a stroke might not seem like much, but face or arm or speech, at the first sign it’s time to call 999.”

   *

Face – One side of the face may start to droop, and/or it may become hard to smile

Arms – One or both arms may feel week and it can become hard to lift the arm and hold it aloft

Speech – Words become slurred or confused

Time – The quicker you phone 999 the better