Cork hospitals ahead of the curve in stroke care

Two Cork hospitals are ahead of the international curve in administrating clot-busting treatment to patients within the vital three hours post-stroke.

Stroke physician Dr Kieran O’Connor said those fortunate enough to receive thrombolytic therapy in the immediate aftermath of a stroke had a one-in-seven chance of complete recovery.

Dr O’Connor, who heads up the acute stroke unit at the Mercy University Hospital, said internationally, 5% of patients were getting the vital treatment within the recommended time.

Ireland was ahead of the curve, he said, because the national figure was about 10%, while at the Mercy, figures for last year were at 12%. “It’s one of the big success stories of the HSE national clinical care programmes,” he said.

There was also a big focus on early rehabilitation, which Dr O’Connor said “helps many people who previously wouldn’t have recovered and now make a full recovery”.

In Cork, a coordinated regional service is provided, with two dedicated acute stroke units, one at Cork University Hospital and one at the Mercy, which was officially opened at the weekend. A rehabilitation service is provided at St Finbarr’s Hospital.

“That coordinated care, together with the provision of multidisciplinary teams means the patient’s chance of recovery is substantially better. Having it all in one area means reduced death and disability rates,” Dr O’Connor said.

The consultant geriatrician said stroke unit care “is the single biggest factor that can improve a person’s outcomes following a stroke”.

The HSE national programme aims to provide rapid access to the best-quality stroke services throughout the country thereby preventing one stroke every day and also avoiding death or dependence in one patient every day.

In 2011, the Mercy was designated as one of the acute stroke sites by the HSE National Clinical Care Programme in Stroke. Last year, it treated 120 full stroke patients and 100 who had transient or “warning” strokes.

An acute stroke unit consists of a discrete area of a hospital that exclusively or principally takes care of stroke patients and is staffed by a specialist multidisciplinary team.

The provision of acute stroke units in hospitals reduces death and dependency rates by more than 20%.