ASC Stroke Unit Certification Project

The Australian Stroke Coalition (ASC) has developed a voluntary system for certification of stroke units in Australian hospitals.

About Stroke Unit Certification

Stroke Unit care is the single most powerful intervention to improve stroke outcomes, but Stroke Units cannot be Stroke Units in name only.

As such, Stroke Unit certification is recommended by the World Health Organization, the World Stroke Organization and the Australian Government’s National Strategic Action Plan for Heart Disease and Stroke, as a quality assurance and improvement activity.

The Australian Stroke Coalition (ASC), co-chaired by the Stroke Society of Australasia and the Stroke Foundation, has developed a voluntary system for certification of stroke units in Australian hospitals, which has now been piloted.

Why should your service be certified?  

• Certification is needed for the National 30/60/90 targets.
• Provides an external perspective to drive cross-pollination of best practice.
• Provides a rigorous process to improve processes and patient outcomes.
• Helps ensure and build clinical team cohesion.
• Produces a report written by objective peer assessors which can be used for local advocacy and quality improvement. Support may also be provided to sites to help them meet certification requirements.
• Provides national (ASC) and international (World Stroke Organization) recognition.
• Strengthens the confidence for both peers and community in the quality of stroke care.

See what the stroke team at Logan Hospital had to say about the certification process:

Certification process

The certification process involves:

• a facilitated application and documentation evaluation;
• an online Zoom review and virtual site walk-through by a panel of two adjudicators (one medical and one nursing or allied health) and the Stroke Unit Certification Project Officer; and
• final approval by a National Committee.

Voting members of the Committee, chaired by Professor Tim Kleinig, comprise clinical leads from each state and territory, as well as nursing, allied health and consumer representatives.

All sites which achieve certification receive valuable feedback as part of the review process, which can be used to further strengthen their services.

What does it cost?

From July 1 2024, a cost-recovery charge ($4000) will apply per site for program administration and coordination.  

Pilot and evaluation

The ASC Stroke Unit Certification pilot project has received strong interest from many sites across the country, as well as support from the Australian stroke community, which has been very encouraging.

The 12-month pilot is now complete, and the sites that have completed the full review process and achieved certification are listed below.

A formal evaluation of the pilot, focused on the feasibility and acceptability of the process, has been undertaken, and is available here:

Sites are encouraged to register their interest to start the certification process.

Resources

A guide to Regional Stroke Service Development

Echuca Regional Health

australianstrokecoalition.org.au

Australian hospitals that have achieved ASC Stroke Unit Certification

Sites showing as expired may have this listing removed by contacting the Stroke Unit Certification Coordinator at strokeunitcertification@strokefoundation.org.au or scoote@strokefoundation.org.au

Contact

For more information on the ASC’s Stroke Unit Certification Project, please contact Leah Pett: lpett@strokefoundation.org.au