Only 3% of stroke patients getting life saving drug

Most stroke patients are not getting access to a life saving treatment according to an audit of stroke care in Australia conducted by the National Stroke Foundation.

The audit of case notes of more than 2,700 patients in 89 hospitals found that only 3% of eligible stroke patients were treated with the clot busting drug tPA.

The nation-wide audit, a follow up to the recent audit on hospital services, found only half of the patients received care on a stroke unit, despite evidence that these units reduce death and disability.

“The audit showed that there is a lot of room for improvement in stroke care in Australia, National Stroke Foundation chief executive officer, Dr Erin Lalor, said.

“Because there is a three hour time window, part of the reason for the alarmingly low number of patients getting tPA is due to delays in patients getting to hospital and delays in treatment and assessment when they do get there,” she said.

“But, with less that a quarter of hospitals having stroke units, the problem is that in many places these treatments are just not available.”

The audit report identifies three priorities to improve treatment and save lives from stroke.

1. To increase access to stroke unit care from 50%-70%.
2. To increase the number of eligible patients getting the life saving clot-busting drug from 3%-5%.
3. To ensure more patients receive appropriate discharge planning.