£800k stroke unit is third best in the UK

10:00am Monday 1st December 2008

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SOUTHEND Hospital has slashed the recovery time for stroke patients following the opening of its pioneering £800,000 specialist unit.

The hospital’s acute stroke unit, which opened in July last year, provides fast-track, clot-busting drugs which have proven to give patients a better chance of a full recovery after suffering a stroke.

As a result, the average length of stay for stroke patients has been slashed from 28 days to 18, while 14 out of 56 patients getting the anti-clotting drug walked out of the hospital with no disability whatsoever.

Since the unit was introduced, all stroke patients arriving at the hospital have been offered the drug within three hours, and all have received a full scan within 24 hours. Tony O’Brien, the unit’s pioneer, has now been named lead consultant for stroke care throughout Essex following the success at Southend.

He is also one of two consultants helping stroke units in London.

He said: “We started this service because we wanted to see patients recover fully from strokes.

“Our success has been recognised and now we are leading the way on the development of county-wide stroke services in Essex.”

Dr O’Brien is credited as the driving force behind the hospital’s miraculous surge up the rankings, which are compiled by the Royal College of Physicians.

The results have led to Southend being named the third best hospital in the country for stroke services, just two years after it was rated 228th out of 244.

Dr O’Brien said: “There are 2,500 strokes each year in Essex.

“Let’s get those people into hospital immediately.

“Two million brain cells are lost in each minute of delay, so the sooner the patient gets to hospital the more likely a positive outcome.”