On average, the lives of two Stroke patients have been saved every month since the Salford Royal Acute Stroke Unit team started using an innovative ABC care bundle and app following a project with Greater Manchester Connected Health Cities (GM CHC).

Stroke affects about 6,000 people across Greater Manchester each year. 1 in 10 Strokes are caused by a blood vessel rupturing within the brain (intracerebral haemorrhage or ICH) which has the worst outcomes of all stroke subtypes. GM CHC are improving patient outcomes by using technology to support clinical teams to deliver the right care to Stroke patients in time critical situations.

The ‘ABC care bundle,’ which was developed at Salford Royal by Dr Adrian Parry Jones and the team, helps by:

• Rapidly reversing blood thinning drugs (Anticoagulants)
• Lowering patients’ blood pressure in the emergency department (Blood pressure)
• Ensuring that the patients who need neurosurgery are taken there as quickly as possible (Care pathway.)

GM CHC’s app supports clinicians in delivering the components of care listed above to ensure that ICH Stroke patients receive the most effective and appropriate treatment. When the patients are in hospital, their data links to a dashboard so that the hospital teams can constantly monitor their condition and, if necessary, adjust their care accordingly.

Since the use of the ABC care bundle and app was implemented at Salford Royal, the number of deaths in the 30 days following an ICH stroke dropped by around one third. The ABC care bundle and GM CHC app are delivering real-world impact on the lives of people living in our region.

The project originated following funding from the cardiovascular research domain within Manchester Academic Health Science Centre (MAHSC), now part of Health Innovation Manchester.

The GM CHC Stroke project is led by Dr Adrian Parry-Jones. To find out more about GM CHC’s Stroke project, please visit the GM CHC Stroke project page.