VIC stroke unit recognised for international best practice: Boehringer Ingelheim Angels initiative

Pharma News: A stroke unit in Victoria has gained international recognition for achieving “the nation’s fastest door-to-needle time”.

Every second, our brains’ 100 billion neurons fire between 5 to 50 messages each, orchestrating the complexities of thought and action. However, time is brain when a stroke occurs.

Australia has trailed behind other developed nations in providing timely acute stroke reperfusion and access to stroke units, despite stroke ranking among the country’s top killer and leading cause of disability. Over the past decade, the lifetime risk of stroke in adults over 25 has surged to 1 in 4, underscoring the urgent need for improved stroke care.

Through the Angels initiative, a collaboration between the World Stroke Organisation (WSO), European Stroke Organisation, and Boehringer Ingelheim, the Eastern Health Box Hill Stroke Unit has earned the WSO Gold Status recognition for its outstanding performance.

Eastern Health Stroke Neurologist, Dr Philip Choi, said the award is an honour for the entire team. This year alone, Eastern Health Box Hill has treated 209 stroke patients.

“We are delighted to achieve WSO Gold Status and be recognised for our ongoing efforts to provide the community with the best stroke care possible,” Dr Choi said. “This award acknowledges our commitment to excellence and the can-do attitude from everyone in the stroke team.”

In September 2023, key stakeholders including the Stroke Foundation, Stroke Society of Australasia, Australian Stroke Clinical Registry, and Boehringer Ingelheim’s Angels Initiative united at the National Stroke Targets Roundtable. Here, they unveiled the National Stroke Targets 30/60/90*, a strategic plan aimed at advancing time-critical stroke care by 2030.

Eastern Health Acute Stroke Nurse, Tanya Frost, said “We’re very proud to say that we’re the fastest in the country and are able to set that standard to ensure that patients receive excellent, prompt expert care, to aid the best possible recovery post stroke. We know that what we do today makes a massive difference to the patient and how they recover from their stroke.”

To attain WSO Gold status, hospitals must meet specific criteria, such as restoring blood flow to the brain in over 50% of eligible patients within 60 minutes of hospital admission. Achieving this prestigious status necessitates demonstrating optimal time-to-treatment, seamless coordination of care, thorough scans and screening, and ensuring patients are discharged with medications to mitigate the risk of recurrent stroke.

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*By 2030:

• National median endovascular clot retrieval door to puncture time <30mins for transfers
• National median thrombolysis door to needle time <60mins
• National median door in door out time for endovascular clot retrieval <60mins in metro hospitals
• National median endovascular clot retrieval door to puncture time <90mins for primary presenters
• Certified stroke unit care provided to >90% of patients with primary stroke diagnosis