Central Gippsland Health (CGH) is among the top four hospitals in Australia for excellence in stroke care and data collection having won the silver award at the recent Australian Stroke Clinical Registry (AuSCR) Investigator Forum.
These awards are based on having a high composite score over eight processes of care and excellent data quality throughout 2017. Only nine hospitals nationally received awards.\
Clinical Head of Unit for Medicine, Critical Care and ED, Krishna Mandaleson, said he was proud to be a part of a team that worked very hard to maintain a high standard of stroke care.
“This was truly a team effort,” Dr Mandaleson explained. “We need to acknowledge the contribution of Ambulance Victoria, the Radiology and Emergency departments, Critical Care Unit, Pharmacy, the on-call medical team and special thank you to our acute stroke coordinator for all her hard work. Victorian Telehealth Stroke was also instrumental in delivering an excellent hyperacute stroke care service.”
Dr Mandaleson also acknowledged CGH’s rehabilitation team (nurses and Allied Health Team), including care coordinators that worked very hard in supporting stroke survivors to achieve their goals to regain independence. Senior management were thanked for their continued support and encouragement, and Boehringer and Ingelheim were recognised for their continued support for regular NIH Stroke Scale training sessions.
NIH Stroke scale is used to assess all patients before considering the use of clot busting drug and clot retrieval.
CGHS Chief Executive Officer, Dr Frank Evans, said everyone involved should feel honoured.
“This award is no mean feat,” he said. “Our teams have made a concerted effort to monitor, promote and improve the quality of acute stroke care and by working together, patients, families, clinicians and researchers have made a difference in the lives of people affected by stroke.”
The Australian Stroke Clinical Registry award is calculated based on eight processes of care:
- Stroke Unit Care
- Thrombolysis
- Aspirin within 48hrs
- Swallow screen/assessment prior to oral intake
- Mobilised same or following day
- Antithrombotics on discharge
- Antihypertensives on discharge
- Discharge care plan
The data collected by CGHS will guide quality improvement interventions in hospitals, reduce variations in care delivery and, ultimately, provide evidence of reduced deaths, disability, and recurrent stroke.