Stroke care targets missed at Heatherwood FT

A performance report by NHS Berkshire has revealed that the proportion of stroke patients spending 90 per cent of their time on a dedicated stroke unit was 71 per cent, 79 per cent and 77 per cent for April, May and June, respectively. The target is 80 per cent.

However, the trust is improving on last year’s figure, which in early 2010-11 stood at under 30 per cent.

Meanwhile, the trust is also well behind target on the number of patients admitted to a stroke unit within four hours.

Heatherwood and Wexham Park achieved 32 per cent for April, 61 per cent in May, 54 per cent in June and 63 per cent in July.

The NHS Berkshire report said: “Performance is well below target. There is some concern about maintaining and then improving on stroke targets.”

The report also found Heatherwood and Wexham Park failing on a range of other stroke targets in July.

Only 60 per cent of patients were scanned within an hour against a target of 95 per cent; 93 per cent were scanned in 24 hours against a 95 per cent target; 75 per cent of patients had a “swallow screen” test with 24 hours of admission – not only was this lower than the target of 90 per cent but was a decrease on June’s figure of 84 per cent.

Three new acute stroke coordinators have been recruited from September, who will also cover weekend shifts.