Aziz is 68 years old and he works in the family restaurant and enjoys looking after his grandchildren. His wife notices he is not himself one afternoon, one side of his face has dropped, and his speech is slurred. She is worried he might have had a stroke and calls 999. To show the different options for stroke, we will imagine Aziz lives in Aberystwyth.
Under the preferred option…
An ambulance takes Aziz to Bronglais Hospital, and he is taken directly to the CT scanner, rather than to the Emergency Department. If a stroke is confirmed, thrombolysis treatment would be started whilst in the scanning department. Aziz would then be moved to the Emergency Department before he is transferred.
If Aziz hasn’t had a stroke, he will go to the Emergency Department at Bronglais Hospital for further tests.
If Aziz had a more serious stroke (with a large blood vessel occlusion, which is a type of stroke where blood flow to a main artery in the brain is interrupted), he would be taken by ambulance from Bronglais Hospital directly to the thrombectomy centre in Bristol or Cardiff. Thrombectomy can be used to treat these types of stroke. This care is provided regionally for Wales and south and western regions of England in Bristol and Cardiff.
Once Bristol or Cardiff thrombectomy team assess Aziz as fit to be discharged from their care, he will be transferred back to the stroke unit at Glangwili Hospital or directly home, dependent on recovery post-thrombectomy. If thrombectomy is not the right treatment for Aziz, then he will be transferred to the Stroke Unit at Glangwili Hospital for his acute stroke treatment.
Following his acute stroke treatment at Glangwili Hospital, if Aziz is considered medically stable, he will transfer back to Bronglais Hospital rehabilitation unit to receive care closer to home or be discharged home with support from the Integrated Community Stroke Service.