Stroke units in Kerala public hospitals to be upgraded to NABH, WSO standards

The government is taking steps to elevate the six stroke units in public hospitals in the State to the World Stroke Organisation (WSO) and NABH standards, a statement issued by the office of the Health Minister, Veena George, said.

Six stroke units under the Health Services – General Hospital’s at Thiruvananthapuram, Pathanamthitta, Ernakulam and Kozhikode and two district hospitals at Kollam and Palakkad – are being prepared for two accreditation processes simultaneously in the first phase.

Stroke units in other hospitals would be taken up for accreditation in the next phase.

The Minister said that this was the first time that a single wing of a hospital was being readied for accreditation.

WSO certification is given for those institutions which maintain the international standards for stroke care, which make stroke care available within a fixed time and those which ensure that the necessary diagnostics and thrombolysis facilities are offered to patients by eliminating all process delays.

Basic infrastructure, equipment and training for attaining the accreditation are being taken up by the Health department.

Stroke can be managed efficiently only if the patient is brought to the stroke care centre within the first four-and-a-half hours when thrombolysis can be effective. Apart from the Medical Colleges in the State, 12 Government hospitals too have stroke care units which offer thrombolysis, stroke rehabilitation and stroke stabilisation care.

All district hospitals would be equipped with stroke care units by the end of the year, the statement said.