In 2019, The NHS Long Term Plan recognised the importance of tackling the impact of stroke in England. It outlined the need for Integrated Stroke Delivery Networks (ISDN) to improve stroke care across the country.
The East Midlands ISDN was established in 2021. We aim to bring services together and design optimal stroke pathways that will prevent people suffering a stroke and ensure those that do receive high-quality specialist care.
Hospital Stroke Services in the East Midlands were re-designed in 2020. These changes were made after research showed that urgent assessments like brain scans and clot busting treatments are best delivered 24 hours a day, 7 days a week in Acute Stroke Centres (ASCs). In addition some patients with a recent onset of stroke benefit from being treated at specialised regional centres called Comprehensive Stroke Centres (CSCs) where new emergency treatments have been shown to increase the chance of survival and recovery from stroke.