Transforming Stroke Services Conference Tuesday 20th July

The transforming Stroke Services conference occured yesterday and here are some brief points from it.
Dr Anthony Rudd Clinical Director of Stroke in London said that the reconfiguration of stroke services in London represented a major step change in stroke service delivary.

In 2004, Stroke cost the NHS £7bn but only £590 million of that was spent on acute care.

Hyper Acute Stroke Units (HASU's) officially went on stream as of 8am on the 19th July 2010.

Average ambulance journey time to a HASU is 14 minutes in London.

Since February 2010 there has been 587 thrombolysed patients, a four fold increase.

Average length of stay in a HASU is 3 days and average lenght of stay in a London stroke unit is now down to 17 days.

Dr Rudd stated that post hospital discharge was still problematic, saying that it cost "£50,000 to keep someone in a nursing home per year".

The national context of accelerating stroke improvement was articulated by Professor Roger Boyle, the Director for Heart Disease and Stroke, Dept of Health. Professor Boyle has led the development of a national stroke strategy since 2006. It was refreshing to hear Professor Boyle say that "The patient experience is vital" and that the psychological well being of patients is part of the London pathway.

Patient experience was consistently commented on, bringing new validity and importance to the once derided notion of anecdotal evidence. Keith Millar, a stroke survivor summed it up rather succinctly when he said that following his stroke "I became a non-person". We still have plenty of work to do!