Sherwood Forest Hospital’s Stroke Service Best in the Region For Stroke Care
Sherwood Forest Hospitals has been named as the best Trust in the East Midlands for recognising and treating patients who have had a stroke.
The Trust is now the 8th best in the country after being given an A rating by the Sentinel Stroke National Audit Programme (SSNAP) for the way it handles patients suspected of having a stroke.
The team comprises of; the Emergency Department, stroke consultants, thrombolysis nurses, stroke nurse specialists, ward nurses, ward doctors, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, speech and language therapists, clinical psychologists, clinical audit assistants, early supported discharge, members of the discharge team, radiographers, clinical pharmacy, dieticians and East Midlands Ambulance Service, all of whom are among the best when it comes to assessing potential stroke patients and ensuring they receive swift and appropriate treatment and follow-on therapy.
Stroke Matron and Divisional Governance Lead, Adam Hayward said: “We are extremely proud to announce that our patients are receiving the best stroke care in the East Midlands, this is all thanks to the dedication of the team here on the stroke unit, who have all worked really hard to get us to this level and they should be really proud.”
Andrew Stewart who suffered a stroke in November last year at the young age of 47, speaks very highly of the team who got him on the road to recovery. He said: “It was a really scary experience having a stroke so early on in my life, it’s not something you expect to happen, but the team were fantastic. After just one day on the stroke ward, the physiotherapists came and spoke to me about physiotherapy and worked out a bespoke rehabilitation plan for me. I’m a very active person with a busy family life, so I was keen to get back to full strength as soon as possible, which the team really took on board and helped me with.
“When it happened, it was just a normal day for me, I’d been on the school run and had taken my son to his usual rugby practice, coming back I felt really tired, but didn’t really think much of it. Then throughout the evening I kept misjudging distances on my right side and my right shoulder hurt, but again, I just put this down to sleeping awkwardly on it and being tired. But when I woke up the next morning, I couldn’t get out of bed on my right side. That’s when I knew something was really wrong.
“I got to A&E and the team started doing tests to see if I had had a stroke. At that point I still didn’t really believe I had. It only really sunk in when a nurse on the A&E team tried to get me to stand up straight and I realised that I couldn’t, that’s when I slowly started to accept it.
“I was then transferred to the stroke unit, where I was given daily medication and a lot of care to assess my limitations and see what therapy I needed. I was then discharged on the Monday and was visited by the therapy team six days a week for 4-5 weeks. They were brilliant and gave me really practical exercises to do which I could relate to. They even supported my wife and came to see her specifically to see how she was getting on and dealing with things. That really meant a lot to us. Even after the therapy team left me, they said I could contact them at any point and I felt like I still had their support whenever I needed it. I really did feel looked after.
“Since being discharged I have gone from strength to strength and even played a game of rugby the other night. There are still things that I struggle to do, like writing as neatly as I would like to, but I’m hoping things will improve further given time. I can’t thank the stroke team enough for their help and support throughout.”
Registered Nurse, Joanne Smith who treated Andrew when he was first admitted, Patient Andrew Stewart and Specialist Physiotherapist, Freddie Kemish who was part of Andrew’s stroke therapy team.
Andrew with the stroke team at King’s Mill Hospital.