- The Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care has released updated national clinical care guidelines to support people recovering from stroke.
- Experts from the Australian Stroke Clinical Registry (AuSCR), a collaborative partnership led by The Florey, have helped strengthen the Stroke Clinical Care Standard using national data collected from hospitals and people who have experienced stroke.
- The updated Standard places a stronger focus on long-term care and rehabilitation.
Florey expertise and data have helped strengthen the national Stroke Clinical Care Standard, released by the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care.
The updated Stroke Clinical Care Standard aims to improve care for people who have a stroke, including ensuring time-critical care is provided in hospital and tailored support when they return home.
The expanded Standard now recognises care needs beyond acute hospitals, to include a stronger focus on rehabilitation, individualised care planning and follow-up.
The Standard has been developed in collaboration with key stakeholders, including the Australian Stroke Clinical Registry (AuSCR), which is updating its data collection and key indicators to align with the expanded expectations of care.
The AuSCR is led by The Florey in partnership with Stroke Foundation, Australian and New Zealand Stroke Organisation and Monash University, monitoring stroke care in 74 hospitals and tracking performance against national quality of care priorities.
AuSCR Executive Director Professor Dominique Cadilhac said the registry has had an essential role in shaping the new Standard and the refinement of the associated performance indicators.
Professor Cadilhac, who serves as the Professor Rohan Grimley Chair of the AuSCR Clinical and Quality Improvement Committee, was a member of the Standard Topic Working Group.
“By aligning our indicators with the new Stroke Clinical Care Standard, we can monitor progress in meeting the standards and support hospitals to address quality of care gaps for stroke.
“Data from the registry show that hospitals are continuing to improve stroke care, including delivering clot-busting treatment more quickly. However, most are still not meeting national time-based targets for treatment delivery.
“We encourage all hospitals to use the Standard to guide best-practice care, and to continue monitoring and improving services to ensure equitable access and better outcomes for people affected by stroke.”
The Standard was initially published in 2015 to improve likelihood of survival and recovery, while reducing risk of another stroke.
Stroke is one of the leading causes of death and disability in Australia. Currently 440,000 people live with the effects of stroke, while almost 8,000 people die from stroke each year.
