National award recognises NHS stroke care partnership

^{Senior physio Ehab Georgy said east and west Suffolk’s stroke service was continuously reviewed and improved}

The Healthcare Transformation Award for innovation in improving outcomes and reducing variation was collected by NHS Ipswich, and East Suffolk and NHS West Suffolk clinical commissioning groups (CCGs).

Data from Public Health England show that the region has one of lowest levels of premature stroke mortality compared to similar areas in the country.

Continuous review

Ehab Georgy, advanced specialist physiotherapist with the Suffolk stroke early supported discharge team, said the service has been under continuous review since its launch in November 2014.

‘There is a stroke network meeting every month, where we have the stroke consultants from two acute hospitals, our team and other operational and performance team members,’ Dr Georgy told Frontline.

‘We look at all the performance figures for the previous month to see whether there is room for further improvement.’

1,000+ strokes annually

More than 1,000 people in the area suffer a stroke each year, but every patient has seven-day access to a consultant stroke specialist and rehabilitation team within 24 hours, according to a spokesperson for West Suffolk CCG.

The commissioner also said that care does not stop at the hospital door, with patients being able to access care after they have been discharged from hospital, improving the chances of recovery and giving support to carers.

‘We have physios, OTs, psychologists, speech and language therapists and rehab assistants on the early supported discharge team,’ said Dr Georgy.

‘We see patients within 24 hours of hospital discharge and provide specialist stroke services for up to four weeks.’

Dr Georgy is responsible for putting together a monthly report on the service for the commissioners.

Targets

‘I look at all the admissions, discharges, caseloads, and performance indicators, including patient satisfaction questionnaires. I also lead on delivering the annual CQUIN targets and doing a couple of clinical audits.’