East Kent Hospitals tops national stroke audit
East Kent Hospitals’ stroke service has been named the best in the country in a national audit programme.
The Sentinel Stroke National Audit Programme (SSNAP) measures the quality and organisation of stroke care in the NHS, ranking hospitals on a range of criteria including speed of assessment and treatment. It also examines how many people are cared for in a specialist unit, the specialist therapy they receive, and how prepared they are for discharge.
In the latest dataset, released this month, East Kent Hospitals is the only Trust to achieve the top rating of A for the period July to September last year.
Dr David Hargroves, the Trust’s clinical lead for stroke, and NHS England’s national clinical director for stroke, said it recognised the multidisciplinary team’s collaborative working and innovative improvements made over the past five years.
He said: “There have been remarkable improvements in stroke care delivered across the country and particularly so in East Kent Hospitals, reflected in this audit. Recently published mortality data also demonstrates statistically fewer patients are dying from stroke disease after being cared for in East Kent Hospitals.
“Although East Kent is the only organisation in the UK to have achieved this grade, a distinction that speaks to the quality, consistency and ambition of the service; there are still further improvements we know we need to make to ensure our patients get the very best possible care from the NHS.”
During the coronavirus pandemic, hyperacute stroke services were temporarily moved to a single unit at the Kent and Canterbury Hospital. Long-term plans will see the service expand and relocate to the William Harvey Hospital in Ashford.
Clinicians have introduced artificial intelligence-enabled CT decision support software to speed up scan interpreting, and allow patients to start treatment faster.
The team was also the first in the UK to provide 24-hour access to pre-hospital video triage, enabling paramedics to speak directly to specialist medical staff for advice. A range of CT scans are also available 24 hours a day, with extended access to MRI scanning.
David said: “This innovation has transformed early clinical decision-making, enabling faster delivery of acute stroke treatment for those who need it, while safely directing patients with stroke mimics to more appropriate alternative care pathways.
“This approach has delivered clear benefits for patients, ambulance services and acute stroke teams alike.
“Crucially, these advances in hyperacute care have been matched by sustained excellence in seven-day multidisciplinary stroke care.
“The development of a bridging rehabilitation service has enabled earlier supported transfer home, with seamless integration into community stroke services, ensuring continuity of rehabilitation and recovery beyond hospital admission.
“Together, these achievements demonstrate what can be delivered through system-wide collaboration, innovation and a relentless focus on quality. The SSNAP Grade A outcome is not only a marker of performance, but a reflection of a service committed to delivering the very best outcomes for people affected by stroke.”
SSNAP provides timely information to clinicians, commissioners, patients and the public to support improvements in the quality of care and the delivery of evidence-based treatments locally and nationally and thereby reduce disability from stroke in the wider population.
In 2024, SSNAP recalibrated the scoring system underpinning its ratings of providers’ stroke services to better align with policy, research, and clinical developments across the stroke pathway.
Providers are given a score for each area, and an overall ranking, and East Kent Hospitals is the only Trust to receive an overall ranking of A. You can find all the results on the SSNAP website: https://www.strokeaudit.org/Results2/Clinical-audit.aspx