'Time is brain': Stroke telehealth to expand to 24 hour service

In a significant development for stroke care in country Western Australia, the WA Telestroke service has extended its operating hours to provide a 24-hour, seven-day-a-week support system for clinicians attending to patients with acute stroke symptoms.

The service has been running 8pm to 6pm weekdays, providing consultancy to regional health centres that don’t have the full capacity to diagnose the different varieties of stroke.

With this expansion, stroke specialists from across WA are now accessible as the primary point of contact, offering their expertise to assist emergency clinicians in diagnosing, assessing, and managing cases of acute stroke and Transient Ischaemic Attack (TIA) throughout the entire state.

Given the considerable mortality and morbidity rates associated with stroke and TIA, the prompt diagnosis and treatment provided by Telestroke can play a pivotal role in achieving better patient outcomes.

The expanded service is effective as of 31 July, and constitutes a crucial aspect of the second phase of the program, which boasts a funding of $9.7 million.

The dedicated efforts of the Telestroke service have already borne fruit, having successfully diagnosed and treated over 600 stroke patients since its inception in late 2021.

WA Department of Health Stroke Director, Dr Andrew Wesseldine, said the 24 hour service will be a huge step in the treatment of such a time sensitive condition.

The faster a stroke is diagnosed, the faster treatment can occur, thus lowering the risk of permanent brain damage and disability. Telestroke facilitates faster diagnosis in regions where stroke specialists may not work or be readily available,” Dr Wesseldine said.

The average number of neurons in the human forebrain is 22 billion. In patients experiencing a typical large vessel acute ischaemic stroke, 120 million neurons are lost each minute. Time really is brain.”