A 15-BED unit for stroke victims in Huddersfield and Halifax has just opened.
Mike Thornton, head of the Stroke Association in Yorkshire, performed the opening ceremony at the acute stroke unit at Halifax's Calderdale Royal Hospital.
The unit provides beds for patients who need intense medical support in the few days after a stroke.
Patients in specialist stroke units get quality and rapid treatment.
Stroke patients in the Halifax hospital will receive their care from a team of doctors, nurses, physiotherapists, occupational therapists and other stroke specialists.
Extra nursing and therapy staff, including a speech and language therapist and a dietician, specially trained in looking after stroke patients, have been recruited by the Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Trust, which runs the unit.
* Awareness of the severity of strokes is alarmingly low among the public - and even some health professionals - says a survey by the Stroke Association.
Strokes are the UK's third biggest killer, but the survey of more than l,000 people found a lack of knowledge of them among women, young people and even some health professionals.
Only 14% of the 200 GPs and 28% of the 75 accident and emergency doctors surveyed accurately estimated the scale of the condition.
More than 130,000 people in the UK have strokes every year.
The Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Trust deals with about 700 stroke victims every year.
The condition is responsible for 13% of all deaths in women. More than 74,000 women have a first stroke every year - more than double those who contract breast cancer.
But 61% of the public believe breast cancer affects more women in the UK than stroke.
* Eating at least five portions of fruit and vegetables helps to protect against chronic conditions, such as strokes.
