The stroke service team at HMC.
Doha: The openings of a dedicated Stroke Ward at Hamad General Hospital (HGH) and related services across the Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) have played a key role in ensuring stroke patients in Qatar receive the safest and most effective care.
Since 2014 the mortality rate and admission to Intensive Care Unit due to stroke has reduced by 50 percent. The hospital stay has dropped from eight days to four or five days, said Dr Maher Saqqur, Director Neurology at HGH.
“The multi-disciplinary nature of the care provided at HGH has contributed greatly to patient care. The extensive team involved in the treatment of each stroke patient is central to the multi-disciplinary care patients receive. Stroke neurologists, rehabilitation physicians, stroke nurses, allied health professionals, stroke coordinators and clinical nurse specialists all provide their expertise in shaping patient treatment plans according to each patient’s individual needs,” he told The Peninsula.
“In 2013 the mortality rate due to stroke was between an average of 12 and 15 percent but now dropped between 6 and 7 percent,” said Dr Saqqur, who is also Clinical professor of neurology and medicine at University of Alberta.
In addition, thrombolysis an internationally recognised as a very effective treatment in acute ischemic stroke, which must be given within 4.5 hours of the onset of symptoms — the HMC stroke team now regularly utilises interventional thrombectomies, the retrieval of blocked vessel clots through a catheter.
The Stroke Ward at HGH lead by Dr Naveed Akhtar and his multidisciplinary team completes five years on Thursday, March 14.
HGH functions as the main hospital for stroke care, while tele- stroke services are provided by other general hospitals of HMC. Once patients are stabilised, they mostly get transferred to the stroke ward at HGH. In 2018, a total of 2200 were treated for stroke across HMC and it was 1900 in 2017. “HMC’s Stroke Program team has continued to improve care outcomes for patients, despite increasing volumes,” said Dr Saqqur.
Besides the acute care the rehabilitation process for patients at HMC begins as early as possible, often 24 hours after the stroke has occurred. Experienced physical medicine and rehabilitation (PMR) teams understand the lifesaving potential of early, advanced stroke treatment and work on early intervention rehabilitation team (EIRT) of physicians and therapists to focus on the stroke recovery process.
“The primary aim of stroke rehabilitation is to enable the patient to relearn the motor skills they have lost due to the stroke. HMC’s expert rehabilitation teams work together by setting individual patient goals to overcome challenges and find innovative solutions that noticeably improve patient recovery,” said Yasser Mansour, Physical Therapist, Stroke Ward, HGH.
“It is important to start the patient’s recovery process as soon as possible to give them the best chance of recovery. We do the assessments and acute care, later the patient will get transferred to the Qatar Rehabilitation Institute for further rehabilitation,” he added.
