Since the opening of the Acute Stroke and Brain Injury Unit at Ashford and St. Peter’s Hospitals NHS Trust, which serves around 400,000 people living in Elmbridge, Hounslow, Runnymede, Spelthorne, Surrey Heath, Woking and further afield, at the beginning of April, staff have been on tenterhooks waiting for the first opportunity to use their new ‘clot-busting’thrombolysis skills on a stroke patient.   Little did Alex Haggerty know when he started work on 8th May in the local branch of Sainsbury’s that he would be the first patient to experience the express treatment that thrombolysis provides.

Mr Haggerty’s stroke occurred as he was stacking shelves and he had a fairly good idea what was happening to him.  As well as being a trained first aider at Sainsbury’s he has also suffered two previous strokes 18 months ago.  From his bed in the Acute Stroke and Brain Injury Unit Mr Haggerty said: “I was reasonably certain what was happening when I felt a terrible pain in my chest.  I called for help and the ambulance service was called.”

Consultant Mr Bhaskar Mandal takes up the story: “The ambulance bringing Alex to St. Peter’s contacted us at 09:45 to let us know that he was on his way and what his key symptoms were.  I knew then that he was likely to be our first thrombolysispatient.  Alex arrived at St. Peter’s at 09:58 and was given an emergency CT scan and with the clear results from this we administered the ‘clot busting’ thrombolysis drugs.   By 11:30hrs this process was complete and I am hopeful that he will make a full recovery.

A stroke is what happens when the blood supply to part of the brain is cut off.  Blood carries essential nutrients and oxygen to the brain. Without a blood supply, brain cells can be damaged or destroyed and won’t be able to do their job. Because the brain controls everything the body does, damage to the brain will affect body functions. For example, limb movement or speech may be affected.   Strokes are generally caused by either a blood clot or bleeding in the head.

In the case of a clot, it is possible to treat the condition with a clot dissolving (thrombolysing) drug, but this is only effective if the drugs are administered within three hours of the stroke. This three hour window makes time a critical factor in the successful treatment of cases of stroke. Correct diagnosis is essential; however, administering a clot dissolving drug to a patient whose stroke was caused by bleeding would be fatal.  Stroke services form an important part of the National Service Framework (NSF) for Older People. Providing rapid access to specialist stroke services and then into specialist rehabilitation saves lives and reduces disabilities.

Mr Haggerty, who is 58 of Goldsworth Park, Woking, continued: “After previous strokes I was off work for a year.   I know that I will have to take it easy but other than the physiotherapy I’m going to have, I feel much better already and hope that I can return to work much more quickly this time.   The doctors and nurses at St. Peter’s are excellent and the rapid treatment I have received is so good.”

The new Acute Stroke and Brain Injury Unit at the Trust cost £325,000 to develop, has 24 beds and is based on Cedar Ward which had to be closed whilst the unit was completely refurbished and specialist monitoring equipment installed.   Nearby is a specialist therapy gym with equipment designed to support the rehabilitation of stroke patients and staffed by specialist nurses.   The Friends of St. Peter’s contributed money towards the equipment.   In 2007 Ashford and St. Peter’s saw over 400 stroke patients who came in through its emergency services.

Consultant Dr Bhaskar Mandal, said: “Someone like Alex has a stroke every five minutes in the UK and strokes are the third most common cause of death, after cancer and heart disease.   A stroke is more common among people over the age of 65, but can happen at any age.  Strokes are the leading cause of disability in the UK.   That is why the opening of our new 24 bed £325,000 unit was so important.   Many studies have shown that making sure that patients who have strokes get the specialist treatment now available in this new unit ensures that patients make a fuller and faster recovery.  We can now make sure that patients from west Surrey and Middlesex get the best possible treatment at their local hospital.”

Many people still don’t know that strokes are largely preventable. More than three times as many women died of stroke than of breast cancer in England and Wales in 2002.    But, when asked what the top causes of death were, 40% more women mentioned breast cancer than mentioned stroke.   Further information about Stroke can be found on the NHS Choices website at

http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/stroke/Pages/Questionstoask.aspx?url=Pages/Questionstoasktab.aspx.

Information can also be found at BBC Health at www.bbc.co.uk/health/conditions/stroke1.shtml;  NHS Direct atwww.nhsdirect.nhs.uk/articles/article.aspx?articleId=351 and The Stroke Association at www.stroke.org.uk.