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Speaker 1: As we know that stroke services are being bolstered. That's

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Speaker 1: what we've been told by the government. Well here in Darwin,

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Speaker 1: with patients now able to connect with neurologists in Adelaide

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Speaker 1: through video conferencing. So South Australia's Telestroke service is being

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Speaker 1: rolled out in Darwin and it's all aimed at insuring

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Speaker 1: people with acute stroke needs receive highly specialized care and

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Speaker 1: expertise after hours, something that I would imagine is absolutely

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Speaker 1: critical if you have gone through or have had a stroke.

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Speaker 1: It's something that we've spoken on the show about before,

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Speaker 1: and I know that stroke is something that occurs probably

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Speaker 1: a bit more often than what you may or may

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Speaker 1: not realize. But joining us on the line to tell

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Speaker 1: us a little bit more about this service is Albaro

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Speaker 1: sera vera. Good morning to you, doctor.

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Speaker 2: Albarro, good morning.

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Speaker 1: How are you? Yeah, very well, thanks so much for

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Speaker 1: your time this morning. Now tell me how does tellystroke work.

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Speaker 2: I will tell a stroke is a system in which

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Speaker 2: we can have other people stroke specialists assessing a patient

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Speaker 2: from a long distance and give advice about what will

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Speaker 2: be the best treatment in the first moments of a stroke.

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Speaker 2: So we use a camera at a stroke in a

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Speaker 2: car that can be moving front of the patient. We

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Speaker 2: call a network of doctors that are in South Australia

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Speaker 2: and they give advice after having reviewed the patient and

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Speaker 2: the scan that we do the brain scan, about what

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Speaker 2: will be the best treatment. We are talking about treatments

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Speaker 2: that can improve outcome in the first hours of a stroke,

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Speaker 2: like a thrombolysis that is a drug that is a

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Speaker 2: cloud pasting drug or in some cases the people with

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Speaker 2: stroke and be transferred to adelaide to have a procedure

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Speaker 2: to remove cloths and so what is.

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Speaker 1: The kind the main I suppose for patients in terms

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Speaker 1: of that faster treatment and and serving lives.

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Speaker 2: Yes, so that's very important. I mean we have started

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Speaker 2: treating strokes for the last five years more or less

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Speaker 2: with troubalisis, but still the arrival to the hospital takes

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Speaker 2: a long time and it's also the time from the

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Speaker 2: when the pasion arrise to cert treatment can be delayed.

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Speaker 2: With the expertise and stroke Networks is one of the

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Speaker 2: main objective is to deliver this treatment as soon as

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Speaker 2: possible because this implies a better prognosis being dependent or

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Speaker 2: for daily activities or survive after it's true.

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Speaker 1: So what were people doing before this option become available

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Speaker 1: or what was happening previously?

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Speaker 2: Yes, so I think what we have done is in

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Speaker 2: Royal Darwin Hospital we have a neurology service, so we

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Speaker 2: have been able to provide this service for the last

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Speaker 2: five years. But we are general neurologies. I have the

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Speaker 2: expertise in the stroke, but not the rest of the

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Speaker 2: team have. And with this network we have and always

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Speaker 2: stroke specially is available twenty four hours per day. And

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Speaker 2: also these type of networks are working all around Australia

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Speaker 2: because this improve patients care and speed of the decisions

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Speaker 2: to administer the treatments and a.

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Speaker 1: Stroke saying to happen more. I guess I are really

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Speaker 1: quite prevalent, aren't I? And I guess I probably happen

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Speaker 1: more than a lot of our listeners realize.

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Speaker 2: Yes, the stroke awareness is very important. Many people do

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Speaker 2: not recognize symptoms of stroke and it's very that's why

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Speaker 2: we had the Stroke Week last week to make people

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Speaker 2: aware of what are the symptoms such as weakness in

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Speaker 2: the face, speech disturbances or weakness in arms and legs,

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Speaker 2: so they can come as soon as possible to the

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Speaker 2: hospital and be assessed in order to deliver treatment, but

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Speaker 2: also not only recognize a stroke, but then know the

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Speaker 2: risk factors to have a stroke, such as blood pressure

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Speaker 2: or hypertension, because the main thing to prevent or to

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Speaker 2: treat stroke is to prevent it. Such prevention is crucial

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Speaker 2: to avoid the devastating effects of u stroke.

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Speaker 1: Now, in terms of the telestroke service, is it another

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Speaker 1: liyer of healthcare? It does sound as though it's going

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Speaker 1: to be incredibly beneficial for people here in the Northern Territory.

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Speaker 2: Yes, I think so. We have been able to work

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Speaker 2: with a Royal Adelaide Hospital for a few years, but

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Speaker 2: this agreement makes us more comfortable and confident to have

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Speaker 2: this interaction with them. Because we are a small team

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Speaker 2: and we have a long small population in a very

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Speaker 2: wide area. There are certain treatments that we cannot offer here,

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Speaker 2: like cloud retrieval, but we are able to send with

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Speaker 2: care flight people to Adelaide to have these very advanced

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Speaker 2: treatments and to have their opinion and expertise at any time.

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Speaker 2: So I think, of course, in the long term this

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Speaker 2: is going to benefit the territorials for sure, as it

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Speaker 2: has happened in Alice Springs for many years now.

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Speaker 1: I understand as well that the hospital has gained accreditation

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Speaker 1: in stroke care. That's according to Into Health. What does

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Speaker 1: that mean.

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Speaker 2: Well, this is a in Alice Springs and already the

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Speaker 2: process of a stroke accreditation around Australia that I'm part

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Speaker 2: of this committee and as a pilot phase of this accreditation,

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Speaker 2: we have selected hospitals around Australia and Alice Springs was

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Speaker 2: chosen to be rural center with a stroke stroke capable

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Speaker 2: regional hospital and has been recently accredited. We already have

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Speaker 2: a stroke unit, but we have not applied for the

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Speaker 2: recognition of it yet. But this is our objective and

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Speaker 2: we met yesterday with all the Stroke working Group the

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Speaker 2: in Royal Darwin Hospital to start the process of being

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Speaker 2: accredited next year.

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Speaker 1: That is good news, isn't it, especially for Lusha.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, that's very good news. That's our main objective and

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Speaker 2: of course the main objective in general is to improve

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Speaker 2: strong care and outcome of the old people in the

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Speaker 2: territory that suffer us through Yeah.

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Speaker 1: Absolutely well. RDH neurologist doctor Albaro, Sarah Sarah Vera. We

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Speaker 1: really appreciate your time this morning and thank you so

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Speaker 1: very much for taking the time out of your i'm

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Speaker 1: sure is a very busy day for you to have

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Speaker 1: a chat with us. Thank you,