Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what research he has commissioned into the effect of ensuring that patients receive urgent treatment following a transient ischaemic attack on (a) reducing the risk of stroke and (b) reducing the cost to the NHS of treating strokes.

The Department has not commissioned any recent research on these specific topics. Funding from the Department's National Institute for Health Research has supported the EXPRESS (Early use of eXisting PREventive Strategies for Stroke) study, which aimed to measure the effect or more rapid treatment after transient ischaemic attack (TIA) and minor stroke in patients who were not admitted directly to hospital.

Evidence from the EXPRESS study has informed advice on TIA services set out in the Cardiovascular Disease Outcomes Strategy published last year.