The Stroke Association is concerned that the condition has been completely ignored within priorities given to the health service.

It is calling on the government to honour its commitment on strokes in the long-term health strategy proposed earlier this year.

Professor John Marshall, chairman of The Stroke Association's executive committee, said: "Proper after-care and a co-ordinated approach to dealing with the 100,000 new stroke cases every year would lead to fewer deaths.

"A quarter of all medical beds in the NHS are used by stroke patients, and the government's extraordinary attitude towards the condition will have a significant detrimental effect among those charged with organising and funding services for sufferers.

"We are worried about the effect this will have on the quality of life and are concerned that a greater degree of disability is certain to result."

Professor Marshall said that stroke should not be ignored simply because it tended to affect people over the age of 55.

"Stroke care accounts for over £2.3bn of the health and social services budget, substantially more than for coronary heart disease," he said.

"Far from sweeping the matter under the carpet, the Department of Health should see it as the top priority."

Reduce death and disability

The Association claims that improvements in the way care and facilities are provided would lead to more effective treatment for stroke patients and reduce death or severe disability by around a third, without any increase in costs.

The government combined stroke with heart disease as a joint target for health improvement in Our Healthier Nation which was published earlier this year.

But when National Priorities Guidance came out last month, directing health and social services into the next century, stroke was omitted.

The Association's chairman Lord Skelmersdale has called for an urgent meeting with Health Secretary Frank Dobson to hear first hand the reasons for the failure to highlight stroke care.