The stroke video triage system at Watford General Hospital links ambulance crews to a hospital stroke specialist via a tablet so they can assess suspected stroke patients.

The remote assessment, which is nurse led, ensures specialists can request imaging and tests before the patient's arrival and patients are taken to the right place, first time for treatment, sidestepping assessment in the emergency department. 

West Herts Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, which manages Watford General, partnered with the region's ambulance service - East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust - to launch the pilot video assessment programme at Watford General Hospital in December 2023.

Since its launch, more than 170 patients have been assessed this way, with 99% of stroke patients scanned within an hour of arrival, up from 80% before implementation and, on average, 40 minutes more quickly than before.

Brittany Wells, clinical lead (stroke video triage) at the East of England Ambulance Service Trust, said: ‘Stroke video triage is a huge success at Watford General Hospital. Since implementation, we have seen a 17-minute reduction in the time from the patient arriving at hospital to being treated with clot-busting medication.

‘The success of stroke video triage at Watford is testament to the dedication and hard work of the ambulance crews and in-hospital teams who have been so engaged with this new process.'