An Australian medical advocacy group has honoured a Wimmera health service’s treatment of stroke patients with a national award.

Grampians Health’s Wimmera Base Hospital in Horsham was one of 12 hospitals across Australia to win an award for excellence at the 2022 Australian Stroke Coalition’s Quality Stroke Service Awards.

The award, announced at the 31st Annual Scientific Meeting of the Stroke Society of Australasia, recognised the hospital’s ‘quality, evidenced-based stroke treatment and care’, measured against the stroke coalition’s nine best-practice stroke treatment benchmarks.

Grampians Health stroke care co-ordinator Deidre Rennick said she was ‘proud’ of the health service’s record in treating and caring for stroke patients.

“Not only does Wimmera Base Hospital have a dedicated stroke co-ordinator, we also have immediate access to the Victorian Stroke Telemedicine Program, which enables us to connect directly to a neurologist for advice on how to proceed with treatment,” she said.

“Small is better, in terms of the time to get someone from coming in the door to having their CT scan, to being able to know what type of stroke they’re having and what’s the most appropriate treatment for them.

“There is also the ability to administer clot-busting medications here, so we can get patients in, diagnose and treat them very quickly and that’s where small sites have a big advantage over large metro hospitals.”

Ms Rennick said a key phrase in stroke treatment was ‘time is brain’.

She said the success of the hospital’s record in stroke care was testament to its team of paramedics, nurses, doctors and its radiology department.

“That is the key. The quicker you can get that blood supply restored, the better chance the person has for recovery,” she said.

Grampians Health regional director hospitals – west, Carolyn Robertson said she was ‘extremely’ proud of the teams involved.

“This is a wonderful achievement with excellent outcomes for our patients who have had a stroke,” she said.

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