Manchester researchers study stroke therapy in England

The University of Manchester research team, in conjunction with colleagues from King’s College London, are embarking on a study funded by the National Institute for Health Research Health Services & Delivery Research Programme to study 160,000 records of stroke victims to identify any issues affecting the quality of stroke therapy in England.

Pulling progress from records kept by the Sentinel Stroke National Audit Programme (SSNAP), researchers will track from the first ambulance call to six months after discharge from hospital facilities. The intention is to use the most recent available records, dating back no further than 2013.

The project is being led by University of Manchester professor of rehabilitation Sarah Tyson.

“Access to [the SSNAP data] means we can find underlying reasons for any variations in the quality of stroke care and propose cost-effective ways of doing something about it,” she said.
 
The goal is to make sensible, evidence-based decisions to improve therapy services so stroke survivors make the most complete recovery possible. The project will be funded with approximately $313,000 and will consider a number of factors, such as the type and amount of therapy received, how services are organized, and what the outcomes for patients are in a two-year study. A series of detailed recommendations will be produced at the end of the study.