SOUTHEND Hospital is renowned for forging ahead with stroke care and prevention, a reputation it continues to build upon after being announced as one of just 13 projects to win an award and £100,000 in the NHS Innovation Challenge Prize Award.

The winners were announced in Manchester at a prestigious awards ceremony attended by the Secretary of State for Health.

Southend Hospital and the other 12 winners beat 52 shortlisted applicants who had to present their ideas in a Dragons’ Denstyle pitch to a group of experts.

This is Southend Hospital’s fifth national award for clinical excellence or innovation since 2009, and provides another boost to the stroke team’s ongoing preparations for becoming the first hyper acute stroke unit in Essex later this year.

If patients suffering a mini stroke – or transient ischaemic attack – receive prompt medical help, they can often avoid a more serious, disabling or even fatal stroke.

In Southend, a state-of-the-art referral process has meant the number of high-risk patients seen within 24 hours has soared from 17 per cent to 96 per cent, an improvement so striking the system is being implemented in several neighbouring NHS trusts.

The Southend team, frustrated at seeing patients who could have been helped if their symptoms had been spotted earlier, joined colleagues in primary care and IT services to establish the new Hot-Tia system.

Lead stroke consultant Dr Paul Guyler says that the multinational award winning redesigned Tia clinic has most importantly benefited patients.

The Tia clinic is patient-centred, and able to respond to the urgency of patient need.

“We can see one patient – or ten – 365 days a year.

“Preventing a stroke is much better than trying to reverse damage from a subsequent clot in the brain.”

Stroke consultant at the hospital Dr Devesh Sinha added: “We hope Hot-Tiawill be in the majority of UK trusts within the next five years. Timing is everything in stroke care, especially as a Tia can be an indicator of bigger, more serious strokes. It’s a massive boost to the stroke team and if the programme is rolled out nationally, it will be known as Southend’s Hot-Tia, putting the town and hospital on the stroke map.”

If it is adopted across the NHS in England, the scheme is set to save an estimated £116million a year.

Sir Bruce Keogh, NHS England’s medical director who presented the awards, said: “These are innovations that will transform the NHS.

“I look forward to following the progress of this year’s winners.”