“There was a need to have a technology available to us where we can see and assess the patient and that’s where the Polycom Practitioner Carts have been extremely helpful. Based on the initial description of the patient we decide whether this patient would benefit from having a video consultation,” said Dr Tahir Nasir, Consultant Stroke Physician. “Now with the Polycom video carts, while based in my own house I can assess the patients in these eight different centres. I can talk to the patients. I can examine them. The Polycom camera on the other end is a very sophisticated instrument where I can zoom and direct it in various directions.”
Every year an estimated 150,000 suffer from strokes, which affect not just the elderly but children and young people as well. By providing around-the-clock access to on-demand stroke care in the time-critical early intervention stage, the Telestroke Network has not only helped save lives but also helped to prevent many patients from suffering long-term conditions resulting from strokes.
To extend the positive results of the telestroke service, the CSNLC are now incorporating the technology into other areas of care. One hospital, for example is now using the Practitioner Cart to enable visual assessments of cardiac patients. The hospital has installed network points into all of the coronary care beds where patients stay on the coronary care ward post-Thrombolysis treatment so the other hospitals within the network can provide cover for the cardiac patients in the coronary care unit if an expert opinion is required at night.