Excellence in regional stroke care: an evaluation of the implementation of a stroke care unit in regional Australia.
OBJECTIVE
To assess the effectiveness of a formalised stroke service in a regional hospital.


METHODS
A pretest post-test design.


METHODS
An acute stroke unit in a regional health service.


METHODS
Overall sample comprised 80 patients with 36 (45.0%) men. Forty patients (19 men, 21 women) comprised pre-intervention group and 40 (17 men, 23 women) post-intervention group.


METHODS
Establishment of an acute stroke unit.


METHODS
Increased frequency in meeting key performance indicators for acute stroke care as recommended by National Stroke Foundation.


RESULTS
On discharge, fewer survivors in the pre-intervention group were independent (n = 5) and returned home (n = 9) than the post-intervention group (n = 13) for both independent and returned home. More survivors in the pre-intervention group were discharged to aged care or inpatient rehab (n = 22) than the post-intervention group (n = 12). Within required time frames, the frequency of CT scans (chi(2) (1, 80) = 4.1, P < 0.05), swallow assessments (chi(2) (1, 80) = 9.0, P < 0.01), occupational therapy assessments (chi(2) (1, 80) = 14.5, P < 0.0001), multidisciplinary meetings involving patient and family (chi(2) (1, 80) = 19.9, P < 0.0001) and self-management plans (chi(2) (1, 80) = 10.9, P < 0.05) all increased significantly.


CONCLUSIONS
Our evaluation demonstrated that introduction of formalised stroke care to a regional hospital resulted in improved compliance with key performance indicators and better patient outcomes. Thus evidence-based specialised stroke care can be offered with confidence in regional populations.
South West Healthcare, Ryot Street, Warrnambool, Victoria 3280, Australia. lmccann@swh.net.au
Leanne
L
McCann
Patrick
P
Groot
Chris
C
Charnley
Anne
A
Gardner
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D006767:Hospitals, District; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011787:Quality of Health Care; D012423:Rural Health; D020521:Stroke / Q000628:therapy*; D014739:Victoria