An overhaul of stroke services in ABM University Health Board, which serves a population of approximately 600,000 covering Bridgend, Neath Port Talbot and Swansea, is helping patients recover more quickly and beginning to cut death rates.
Early indications are that death rates among ABM stroke patients are falling. The UK average is approximately 30 per cent, but in ABM that figure is currently around 12 per cent.
Over the last six months stroke services have been redesigned to ensure both earlier intervention, and that patients are increasingly treated by stroke specialists.
A 24/7 clot-busting Thrombolysis Service is now underway, with Morriston Hospital offering round the clock injections since January and the Princess of Wales Hospital offering the full time service since March. This means that many more patients who suffer strokes can now access this early treatment which significantly reduces long-term disabilities like mobility or speech problems.
Andy Phillips, ABM Director of Therapy and Health Sciences, said: “Our system has been completely redesigned; we haven’t just tinkered around the edges. We have designed it to ensure patients get the right treatment in the right place by the right people when they need it.
“Key to this is ensuring patients are treated by specialists, and while we still have some work to do to get this to 100 per cent, increasingly stroke patients are now being treated in specialist acute stroke wards and by specialist staff.”
Mr Phillips said the aim was to get stroke patients into a stroke unit within 24 hours, ensure they received medical treatment by specialist stroke doctors and then have quick access to physiotherapy and occupational therapy services.
“Stroke prevention is equally important and we now have clinics in each of our localities – Swansea, Neath Port Talbot and Bridgend – where patients who have had TIAs, or mini strokes, can go for treatment to reduce the risk of them going on to have full blown strokes.
“In addition, our cardiologists are working with GPs to identify and treat patients with atrial fibrillation (irregular heart rhythms) which can be another cause of stroke.”
Dr Mushtaq Wani, Consultant Physician, Stroke, at Morriston Hospital, said the availability of a 24/7 Thrombolysis Service across ABM was very important.
He explained: “If a patient can get to hospital within three hours of their symptoms showing, and if appropriate, a drug can be administered which busts the clot. This means the outcome for the patient is much improved.
“Not only is it so much better for patients because the risk of permanent damage is much reduced, but they may also spend less time in hospital and be less likely need help from social services so it’s a win-win all around.”
Dr Diptarup Mukhopadhyay, Consultant Physician, Stroke, at the Princess of Wales Hospital, said: “The delivery of high quality stroke care depends on teamwork and we are very proud of the way our colleagues are supporting us to deliver these services. We have also had significant support from front line Emergency Department staff and Radiology colleagues.
“The service is there for patients to use, and if they suspect they have had a stroke they should call a 999 ambulance and come straight to this service. They shouldn’t wait to go through their GP.”
Since ABM’s stroke services have been redesigned, the average length of stay in hospital for these patients has reduced by a third from 20 days to just seven, as their outcomes are improve because of the earlier and better targeted treatment.
As well as hospital-based care, ABM’s Community Integrated Intermediate Care Service (CIIS) also provides an early supported discharge programme for stroke patients. Nurses and therapists go to patients’ homes to provide a tailored package of care so they don’t need to stay in hospital for so long.
Source:
No comments:
Post a Comment