Deans' stroke musings: New centralised stroke unit already making a difference, say health chiefs

Changing stroke rehab and research worldwide now.Time is Brain! trillions and trillions of neurons that DIE each day because there are NO effective hyperacute therapies besides tPA(only 12% effective). I have 523 posts on hyperacute therapy, enough for researchers to spend decades proving them out. These are my personal ideas and blog on stroke rehabilitation and stroke research. Do not attempt any of these without checking with your medical provider. Unless you join me in agitating, when you need these therapies they won't be there.

What this blog is for:

My blog is not to help survivors recover, it is to have the 10 million yearly stroke survivors light fires underneath their doctors, stroke hospitals and stroke researchers to get stroke solved. 100% recovery. The stroke medical world is completely failing at that goal, they don't even have it as a goal. Shortly after getting out of the hospital and getting NO information on the process or protocols of stroke rehabilitation and recovery I started searching on the internet and found that no other survivor received useful information. This is an attempt to cover all stroke rehabilitation information that should be readily available to survivors so they can talk with informed knowledge to their medical staff. It lays out what needs to be done to get stroke survivors closer to 100% recovery. It's quite disgusting that this information is not available from every stroke association and doctors group.

Friday, September 27, 2013

New centralised stroke unit already making a difference, say health chiefs - Worcestershire Royal Hospital

Before you allow them too much back-patting. Ask what the 30-day death rate looks like. Ask what they are doing to stop the neuronal cascade of death. Do not let them rest on their laurels, there is tons of work yet to do to reach 100% recovery. That is the metric they need to reach, and only you can force them to even try for it.
Sorry about the rant, but only survivors can tell when the stroke unit is doing its job. Its not there yet, not even close.
http://www.tewkesburyadmag.co.uk/news/evesham/10701953.New_centralised_stroke_unit_already_making_a_difference__say_health_chiefs/
THE centralisation of county stroke services in Worcester is providing better care to patients, according to the latest statistics.
The change came into effect in late July, when stroke beds in the north of the county were closed down in favour of an enhanced operation at Worcestershire Royal Hospital.
Centralising stroke care has produced significant improvements when it has taken place elsewhere in the country and it is a practice backed by the Stroke Association.
And early figures now suggest that the move is having the intended impact for patients in Worcestershire.
During August, more than 95 per cent of patients were admitted directly to the new unit. The figure for June, before stroke services were centralised, was 85 per cent – while the national target is 70 per cent.
In the same month more than 95 per cent of patients spent more than 90 per cent of their time in a specialist stroke bed. The national target is 80 per cent while Worcestershire Acute Hospitals Trust’s overall figure for 2012-13 was 79 per cent.
As part of the centralisation, the stroke unit at Worcester has been expanded to provide an acute stroke ward, two additional specialised consultants, a dedicated nursing team and consolidated support from physiotherapists, dieticians, occupational therapists and speech and language therapists.

Jane Schofield, interim director of emergency care at the acute trust, said feedback from patients and carers had supported what the statistics are saying.
“This is all part of a bigger journey to make a modern stroke centre in Worcester,” she said. “Centralising services in this way has been trialled nationally and it is proven to save more lives. “I’m pleased to say that this move has been a success for our patients.”
Chairman Harry Turner put a vote of thanks to stroke staff on the record at a trust board meeting.
“In just two months we have seen a 10-point increase in both the metrics, which I think is incredible,” he said.
Chief operating officer Stewart Messer said: “The whole point of centralising stroke services was that it is a proven strategy for improving outcomes for patients. But to achieve that in the first two months is absolutely a huge success.”