Deans' stroke musings: Fewer than one-in-ten stroke patients receive support for early hospital discharge - Irish National Audit of Stroke National Report

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.

Wednesday, March 19, 2025

Fewer than one-in-ten stroke patients receive support for early hospital discharge - Irish National Audit of Stroke National Report

The real question is how many are 100% recovered when discharged? THAT IS THE ONLY GOAL IN STROKE, anything less is wasteful! Are these dedicated units competent in getting stroke survivors 100% recovered? That is the news story.

Fewer than one-in-ten stroke patients receive support for early hospital discharge

Audit of services found that almost 2,000 stroke patients were not admitted to a dedicated unit in 2023

Fewer than one-in-ten stroke patients are supported with rehabilitation to leave hospital early, a national audit has found.

The analysis found that early supported discharge took place among just nine per cent of stroke patients here in 2023. This is well below rates seen in the UK, where more than half (52 per cent) have services in place to allow stroke patients to leave hospital earlier.

According to the Irish National Audit of Stroke National Report, a total of 6,461 people were admitted to hospital with a stroke diagnosis in 2023, an increase of eight per cent on the previous year.

However, nearly 2,000 people were not admitted to a dedicated stroke unit. (Are they any good? 100% recovery statistics?) Seven-in-ten stroke patients were admitted to such units in 2023, below the 90 per cent target set in the current National Stroke Strategy.

On a positive note, rates of thrombectomy – a procedure used to treat strokes caused by blood clots – rose to 11.2 per cent, nearly three times the rate reported in the UK.

There were also improvements in care times, with the median time from a patient’s arrival in hospital to their medical review decreasing from 14 minutes in 2022 to nine minutes in 2023.

But psychological assessment was found to be underprovided, with just six per cent of stroke patients receiving an assessment despite high rates of post-stroke depression and anxiety.

“The data show that Ireland continues to make progress in acute stroke care, particularly in areas such as thrombectomy and faster hospital assessment,” said Prof Joe Harbison, clinical lead for the Irish National Audit of Stroke.

“However, gaps remain in key areas, particularly in access to stroke units and post-hospital rehabilitation. We need enhanced public awareness campaigns to encourage rapid recognition of stroke symptoms and emergency response. It is critical that there is full implementation of the National Stroke Strategy to ensure access to high-quality stroke care”.

The audit assessed the performance of 23 hospitals in delivering stroke treatment. It highlighted the need for increased investment in stroke unit capacity, post-discharge rehabilitation, and mental health support for stroke survivors. It also stresses the importance of faster pre-hospital recognition of stroke symptoms to improve eligibility for time-sensitive treatments such as thrombolysis.

On the back of the study’s findings, the Irish National Audit of Stroke has recommended a review of the organisation of stroke services in acute hospitals to identify gaps in service provision which may impact on the ability of a hospital to provide evidence-based care.

The report, published today, includes the personal story of Jennifer, a Cork-based nurse who had a stroke at the age of 46 in December 2016.

“Despite my overall good health and healthy lifestyle, I still had a stroke that was caused by a bleed in the brain and it was devastating for me,” she said.

“I am not sure if there is anything more that I could have done to prevent the stroke, but I know that getting treatment quickly is important and I am lucky that I did get to hospital fast and was treated so quickly.

She outlined how practical brain injury supports from organisations such as Headway Ireland helped her return to her normal life.

“I had a keyworker and she used to continually say, ‘You are able’. That support and encouragement really helped a lot.

“I have problems with my peripheral vision and the Headway staff taught me how to scan a room, which meant I stopped bumping into things and bruising myself. The Headway staff would help me on the bus and give me tips on how to orientate myself.”

She added: “Life after stroke is so hard, but I never knew this. Although I am a nurse I only ever saw the acute side of stroke, but now I know that there is so much to learn.”