HSJ NEWS ON STROKE SERVICES

NHS South West named one of the best for stroke achievement
5 November 2009 By Clare Lomas

A comprehensive review of stroke services across the South West has helped patients in the region receive some of the best stroke care in England.
The Care Quality Commission’s 2008-09 annual health check found 53 per cent of its acute and specialist trusts achieved the stroke indicator - more than any other area in the country.
NHS South West’s clinically led peer review in July to November 2008 covered the entire stroke pathway in every primary care trust, with baseline assessments, site visits and meetings with commissioners and providers.
National clinical lead for the NHS stroke improvement programme Damian Jenkinson, who led the review, said it enabled organisations to identify where improvement was needed.
“Some difficult conversations were had because hardly any [trusts] had complete clarity about patient flow through their organisations, and some had very complex patient pathways,” he said.
“We have put a lot of measures in place to ensure good progress in services, and those with responsibility for commissioning services need to ensure providers are delivering high quality stroke care,” said Dr Jenkinson, who is also consultant stroke physician at Royal Bournemouth and Christchurch Hospitals Trust.
Every health community in the region now has a detailed action plan for full compliance with the national stroke strategy by April 2011, and NHS South West will monitor quarterly progress.