- Data from the Australian Stroke Clinical Registry is key to ensuring that the quality of stroke care does not vary according to the hospital a patient attends.
- The registry is expanding to provide a comprehensive overview of stroke care never previously achieved.
- The registry highlights areas hospitals can target for improvement, as well as those that are leading the way.
- The expansion is part of the Australian Government’s National Clinical Quality Registry Program.
More hospitals are about to benefit from expert stroke care monitoring
The Australian Stroke Clinical Registry (AuSCR) at The Florey will expand its work to improve stroke care across the country, thanks to a new 3-year $1.5 million funding package under the Australian Government’s National Clinical Quality Registry Program.
Most state governments support the AuSCR program, but this added support will create a new sustainable partnership arrangement between all jurisdictions and the Commonwealth for stroke – a high priority national condition.
The AuSCR data custodian, Professor Dominique Cadilhac, said the new agreement recognised the impact the stroke registry was already having on care and meant it could expand beyond the 65 hospitals it already monitors.
“With the Commonwealth’s support, we will be able to achieve greater coverage across the country in hospitals admitting patients with stroke. Our work will extend to more locations including smaller hospitals to provide a comprehensive overview of stroke care in Australia, never previously achieved.”
Professor Cadilhac said stroke is a major cause of disease burden and cost throughout Australia.
Every 19 minutes, somebody experiences their first stroke, with those in regional areas 17 per cent more likely to suffer a stroke than those in metropolitan areas. We know that smaller regional hospitals especially will benefit from our monitoring of their acute stroke care, and we look forward to working closely with them.
The new funding enables the AuSCR to:
- Expand the number of interactive data dashboards to support improvements in care
- Make information and up-to-date data more easily accessible to the public and researchers
- Share knowledge and expertise with more hospitals
- Report outcomes by a range of factors such as sex, ethnicity and type of stroke; and more.
“Whether a person recovers well from stroke or has a lengthy rehabilitation can depend on the hospital where they’re treated. We are working to change that, by improving gathering and sharing of information related to stroke care,” she said.
The Australian Safety and Quality Commission in healthcare has identified stroke as one of Australia’s high-priority clinical domains. All hospitals already working with AuSCR support the National Stroke Targets which were established in 2023 with registry consortium partners and peak advocacy and clinical bodies, the Stroke Foundation and Australia and New Zealand Stroke Organisation.
Professor Cadilhac said for Australia to align with international best practice it was essential that all hospitals have access to AuSCR’s data infrastructure as it monitored their progress against National Stroke Targets.
We look forward to working with our existing and new partners to improve the quality of stroke care in Australia and reach the National Stroke Targets by 2030.We’re shining a light on areas that hospitals can target for improvement, as well as highlighting areas where states are leading the way and can help others.
The Florey’s successful submission for extra funding was on behalf of the stroke registry consortium: Stroke Foundation, Australian and New Zealand Stroke Organisation and Monash University.
