Stroke services

What are strokes?

A stroke is a serious medical condition that occurs when the blood supply to the brain is disturbed, either by a clot blocking the circulation, or bleeding into the brain.  The term "brain attack" is used to express the urgency and seriousness of a stroke, similar to a "heart attack". 

Like all organs, our brain needs the oxygen and nutrients that are provided by our blood, to function properly. If the supply of blood is restricted, or stopped, brain cells begin to die, leading to brain damage, associated disability due to loss of body function, and in severe cases, death.

A stroke is a medical emergency and prompt treatment is essential because early treatment can minimise the extent of damage to the brain. 

UHL have an agreed Stroke Admission Pathway including:

1.  Paramedic pre-alert to the emergency department, including a Pre-Hospital Video Triage Pilot (2024)
2.  People with suspected stroke in the emergency department are alerted to the Specialist Stroke Team.
3.  Those potentially eligible for emergency "clot-busting" treatment are alerted to the Stroke oncall team to facilitate immediate assessment, brain scan and treatment initiation.
4. Those potentially needing a specialist "clot-extraction" procedure receive a second CT (CT Angiogram) to see if they might be eligible for transfer to specialists in Nottingham who provide this for rhe region. 

Please find more information on affiliated webpages using the links on the left panel. 

Website links:

A guide to strokes - from NHS Choices

FAST campaign - suspect a stroke? Act FAST