Innovative stroke care model featured in national publication | News

An article measuring the effect of a stroke specific same day emergency care (SDEC) model in a hyper acute stroke unit has found significant benefits to time critical intervention in stroke care.

SDECs enable patients to be assessed, diagnosed and treated on the same day they arrive without needing to be admitted to hospital, or brought back later for planned care, helping to reduce pressure on busy emergency departments.

They are used across the NHS in a variety of specialties, with Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust (MTW) providing several of them including a Surgical Assessment Unit, Ambulatory Care Unit and an Acute Frailty Unit.

However, there is currently no formal NHS SDEC model for stroke.

The Trust introduced the Stroke Assessment Bay at Maidstone Hospital in 2020 as Stroke SDEC provision, with the aim to ease the burden on the Emergency Department (ED) and enable patients with stroke symptoms to be brought directly to the Stroke Unit.

The Stroke Assessment Bay has evolved into one of the most developed Stroke SDECs in the country, giving the Trust’s Stroke team a unique opportunity to analyse data and operational experience.

In an article published in the British Journal of Neuroscience Nursing, John Williams (pictured right), Stroke Performance Analyst at MTW, and Vicky Williams, former Lead Stroke Nurse at the Trust, demonstrated how the Stroke SDEC has improved patient care compared with a traditional stroke pathway. Their findings showed increased performance in time-critical interventions, national metric compliance and positive feedback from patients, families and carers.

“The time improvements are particularly significant” explains John. “Thanks to the Stroke SDEC, patients now wait an average of 29 minutes for a stroke bed, a significant reduction on previous times. With every minute post stroke being so impactful to a patient’s wellbeing, these time efficiencies can make a huge difference.”

A key aspect of John and Vicky’s article was to set an evidence baseline in stroke, enabling the model to be replicated nationally. Stroke teams from across the country have already been in touch with MTW for more information, and to arrange a visit to the Stroke Assessment Bay.

John said: “What makes this article publication particularly important is that it contributes to a limited evidence base in stroke same day emergency care. While we have seen the benefits of this pathway in practice, this publication provides peer-reviewed evidence that the model can improve key time-critical stroke metrics and patient experience.

“At a time when stroke services are facing growing demand, we hope this work will support further research, inform future service development and give other organisations confidence to explore similar models for the benefit of patients.”