If a patient being brought in by the ambulance crew is showing FAST positive testing the stroke team and nurses will be alerted and ready to meet the patient on arrival.
A radiographer will also be alerted so that a brain scan is done as soon and as quickly as possible.
Thrombolysis, the clot busting drug, is available for some patients provided they present within four and a half hours of the onset of the stroke and that they meet certain criteria.
Patients will have one-to-one nursing for the first 24 hours and the brain scan will be repeated in that time if they have been given the clot busting drug. A swallow test assessment will also be carried out immediately by the stroke nurse, and if there is a swallowing abnormality, the patient will be referred to the speech and language therapists.
Physiotherapists and occupational therapists will assess the patient on the ward.
"My wife was admitted to A & E just before midnight with what appeared to be a TIA but, as it transpired, was a minor stroke. From speed of arrival of the ambulance to speed of admission and early treatment, we could not have asked for better. Follow up with the Consultant was also a good experience and we left East Surrey with very warm and grateful feelings towards all the staff".
