The Acute Stroke Register Data Standards Expert Group comprises of a multidisciplinary group of healthcare professionals with considerable experience and expertise in the management of stroke. The main aim of the group is to agree draft data standards, i.e. variables, definitions and coding, for three modules of a national stroke register (acute stroke, TIA and secondary prevention. The data standards will focus on those required for an acute stroke register

• Emergency and acute care, including thrombolysis, early assessment and rehabilitation, secondary prevention and care planning
• TIA assessment +/- link to carotid artery surgery

Data variables will be divided into three phases - pre-hospital, in-hospital acute and post-acute - and relevance to clinical audit, service planning and epidemiology will be recorded.   The expert group will input to decisions on the number of variables per module and reach agreement on data standards for each module. The overall aim will be to achieve agreement on the priority variables for inclusion in a national stroke register.