How is stroke care organised in Europe?

INTRODUCTION: There is a wide difference in stroke care in European Countries, conditioning the performance in stroke management.

OBJECTIVE: The authors review current national and regional stroke organisational models and their adherence to current European Stroke Organisation (ESO) guidelines across the Europe and on-going European Stroke Projects. Stroke Care Models investigated in: Austria, Switzerland, Bavaria (Germany), London and Greater Manchester in the UK, Catalonia (Spain), Lombardy Region in Italy, Poland and Northern Portugal.

DISCUSSION: There is a lack of uniform stroke care in European Countries as defined by current ESO guidelines. For this reason, ESO has established the Stroke Unit Certification Platform to make uniform stroke care systems with high quality performances in every part of Europe.