Dinah Fuller has prepared the following summary for the Directors’ visit. ____________________________________________________ THE HULL AND EAST RIDING OF YORKSHIRE STROKE SERVICE

The service was set up in December 2000 and has been organised to embrace the philosophy of providing acute care in the early stages post stroke in the hospital setting followed by the transfer of patients to the most suitable community based rehabilitation environment thereafter.

Ward 110 at the Hull Royal Infirmary, is the Acute Assessment Stroke Unit, and our aim is to enable all stroke patients admitted to the hospital to have their early medical management and assessment on this ward.

There are a further 16 rehabilitation beds within the Acute Trust specifically for stroke patients, and these are used to transfer people who are not medically stable enough to receive their rehabilitation outside the acute hospital setting.

In the inner city, we have developed three small Stroke Rehabilitation Units utilising beds in two private Nursing Homes and one Social Service Residential Home.

Each of the seven to eight bedded units have well trained rostered staff, working specifically with stroke patients and they are supported by the Peripatetic Neuro Specialist Therapy, Nursing and Medical Team.

Patients residing in the East Riding of Hull are transferred to our Community Hospitals for continuing rehabilitation wherever possible and these patients are again, supported by the Specialist Neuro Rehabilitation Therapy and Nursing Team.

The service works closely with Intermediate Care Teams both in Hull and the East Riding to support the early transfer of patients back to their own homes with continuing rehabilitation.

We have developed a clear pathway, not just for the acute management of stroke patients, but also to ensure all elements of a Stroke Service have a focus of their own, in terms of their strategic and clinical development.

The Stroke Service Working Group is the main Steering Group and is supported by key stakeholders and clinicians across the Acute Community and Primary Care Trusts, Social Services, Voluntary Sector and Users and Carers. This provides a cohesive focus for all developments across the service and has been extremely successful in pulling professionals and different organisations together in the delivery of one service.

The sub groups include a Multidisciplinary Pathway and Guideline Group, Audit and Outcome Measures, Training and Education, Development of Primary and Secondary Prevention and Long Term Support, Developing the Service with Users and Carers and Development of the Rapid Assessment TIA Service.

Dinah Fuller Nurse Consultant, Stroke and Intermediate Care

Strokewatch has a lead responsibility for the Users and Carers Sub-group and is represented on most of the other Sub-groups.