A service offering 24-hour treatment to people who suffer the most serious type of strokes has been launched thanks to £850,000 of improvements.

It is the first time thrombolysis treatment has been available round the clock at Maidstone Hospital, the Kent and Sussex in Tunbridge Wells, Medway and Darent Valley in Dartford.

Thrombolysis has to be administered within three hours of someone suffering a stroke caused by a blood clot. The hospitals will run a rota system.

The improvements follow years of stroke services in west Kent being ranked poor in national reviews. NHS West Kent, the primary care trust, has ploughed more than £850,000 into the improvements.

Latest figures also show that 74 per cent of patients across west Kent receive a brain scan within 24 hours of suffering a stroke. This is ahead of the national average figure of 59 per cent and means doctors can rapidly determine the best treatment.

More information on stroke and symptoms from www.stroke.org.uk