Dudley Strategy for Tackling Health Inequalities 2010-15

Table 3Metric for May 2010(unless stated)April2011targetHigh risk TIA treated within 24hours 64% (09/10 yr data) 60%Stroke patients scanned within 1 hour of hospital arrival 14% 50%Confirmed ischemic stroke thrombolysed 3% 10%Stroke patients scanned within 24 hrs of hospital arrival 55% 100%Patients spending 90% of time on stroke unit 71% 80%Eligible patients receiving first dose of aspirin ( or alt)within 24 hours71% 100%Stroke patients with AF anti-coagulated on discharge 35% 60%Generally, service and pathway developments are in the early stages ofadvancement and it is too early for a realistic focus on equity auditing. The priority isto continue to increase general capacity and speed of access to diagnostics andtreatment and achieve the April 2011 targets for the metrics above. If any metricsremain significantly below target, equity auditing can be considered to comparedemographics of patients receiving optimum versus non optimum care.Conclusions:The general conclusions from this acute stroke/TIA health inequalities health needsassessment are:The admissions data for stroke/TIA shows that at the macro level, admissionsreflect the higher risk and needs of specific population groups including men,BME and deprived groupsPublic knowledge and awareness of the symptoms and need to call 999 is lowerin certain high risk groups - particularly BME groups and over 65sService and pathway developments for acute stroke/TIA are in the early stages ofadvancement following the publication of the National Stroke Strategy (GreatBritain. Department of Health, 2007) in December 2007 and the acceleratingStroke Improvement Programme in March 2010 and it is too early for a realisticfocus on equity auditing. The priority is to continue to increase general capacityand speed of access to diagnostics and treatment as identified within thePCT‟s/health economy‟s current priorities and work-streams and driven bycontinual review of vital signs, national targets and sentinel audit data.Recommendations for Acute Stroke/TIAThe NST identifies a number of priority areas for action and this section draws onthose in conjunction with the main findings from the HNA:Continue FAST awareness programmes with an emphasis on segmentation anduse of social marketing to ensure the message reaches all communities, toinclude the development of targeted campaigns for BME and the over 65s90