All hospitals providing acute stroke care should fully participate in the Irish National Audit of Stroke.
Irish National Audit of Stroke - 2019
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The Irish National Audit of Stroke (INAS) is a clinically led quality audit which measures the quality of stroke care, as well as the structure of stroke services, provided to patients in all hospitals that admit acute stroke patients.
The National Stroke Register was established in 2012 by the HSE National Stroke Programme (NSP). In 2019, governance of the National Stroke Register was transferred to NOCA and was renamed the Irish National Audit of Stroke (INAS). This report focuses on the acute care of patients with stroke across 20 hospitals.
Key Recommendations
Complete an organisational audit of stroke units to review the availability and accessibility of stroke unit beds, the availability of the appropriate number of trained stroke staff, and accessibility to diagnostic tests and investigations.
Complete an audit of Early Supported Discharge services nationally
Develop a stroke awareness campaign.
Pilot a large vessel occlusion ambulance bypass to the endovascular thrombectomy stroke centres in Dublin and Cork.
Improve the level of swallow screening for patients with a stroke
All stroke services should have access to a clinical neuro/psychologist as part of a specialist multidisciplinary team providing care to patients with a stroke.