A project has been launched in the Lothians to help stroke victims struggling to regain the power of speech.

The three-year pilot, which will create speech and language therapy jobs, has been paid for by the Scottish Funding Council.

As reported by The Scotsman, stroke patients will be given intensive speech and language therapy using new software that examines the brain.

"Spontaneous recovery occurs in the first three months following a stroke and this is why we are investigating intensive therapy during this period," said speech therapist Anna Jones, who is leading the research.

She added: "The study will look at the effects of long-term computer-assisted speech and language therapy and on patient recovery, using a touch-screen tablet computer. The results will assess the overall effectiveness of SLT and its long-term benefits."

The pilot will be based at the city's Western General. Patients will be referred from Edinburgh hospitals and can undergo treatment at home.

It forms part of a wider push in Scotland to improve treatment for stroke patients. 

Earlier this month it was revealed that hospitals in Scotland repeatedly failed to meet standards for the care of stroke sufferers. In response, the government pledged that by 2013 it wants 90 per cent of patients to be admitted to a stroke unit within a day of their arrival at hospital.