Network of 1,500 Stroke-Ready Clinics across Europe

The Angels Initiative announced today at the European Stroke Organisation Conference (ESOC) 2019 in Milan that their three-year goal to create a network of 1,500 stroke-ready centres and hospitals across Europe has been achieved.

The Angels Initiative is a unique healthcare approach to improve care for people who have just suffered a stroke (acute stroke care) across Europe and in emerging markets. It is run by Boehringer Ingelheim in partnership with the European Stroke Organisation (ESO), the World Stroke Organisation (WSO), the Stroke Alliance for Europe (SAFE) and many other national stroke societies and companies.

“Stroke is one of the leading causes of disability and death. And when a stroke strikes, every second counts to deliver optimised care as fast as possible to preserve life and minimise disability,” commented Prof. Valeria Caso, past president of the ESO. “There is a need to vastly improve the quality and speed of stroke care in Europe. I’m delighted that through the Angels Initiative, we are collectively making a real change, having already established thousands of participating clinics, and the work will keep going.”

If stroke patients are treated as quickly as possible and according to best standard of care in dedicated stroke centres, their chances of survival and a disability-free life can be improved dramatically.

The Angels Initiative aims to improve stroke care by building acute stroke networks, optimising treatment processes and sharing knowledge to set-up specialised stroke-units. The common goal is to improve care for as many people as possible who have suffered a stroke and thus save lives. Started in 2016, the Angels Initiative has now established a community of more than 2,700 stroke-centres and stroke ready hospitals in 95 countries worldwide including 37 European countries.

“This is a huge achievement for the Angels Initiative in a very short period of time. At Boehringer Ingelheim we are proud to be part of this driving force, making a change for thousands of patients,” commented Thomas Fischer, Global Head of the Angels Initiative at Boehringer Ingelheim. “We have completed training in clinics in 37 European countries, but our work does not stop here. We will continue to upskill and support new fully-functional stroke-units in Europe and emerging markets.”

As an ongoing commitment to the community, the Angels Initiative and ESO recognise clinics that are helping to drive the change for better, faster stroke care, through the ESO Angels Awards. During an award ceremony at ESOC today, 331 clinics across Europe have been recognised with ESO Angels Awards for leading the way through fully-optimised stroke care.

About the Angels Initiative
Suffering a stroke is one of the most devastating medical emergencies that can happen to a person. Fifteen million people worldwide suffer a stroke every year; one-third of these people die as a consequence; another third are left permanently disabled.^1,2 Guidelines recommend that patients who have had a stroke are treated in a specialised stroke unit by a dedicated team. In turn, treatment should be initiated as quickly as possible after onset of symptoms^3,4 but this does not always happen.

A dedicated team of Angels consultants provide doctors, nurses and ambulance crews with the training and support they need to create and improve the treatment pathways and processes around stroke care. The Angels consultants run assessments together with the hospitals; compare existing processes with guidelines; provide training and ongoing support for the hospital staff as well as process- and quality-monitoring. Examples of these measures include checklists, which help to standardise processes and to limit unnecessary delays. In addition, the Angels Initiative offers educational tools and programmes – digital as well as analogue, support for pre- and in-hospital process optimisation and a community platform for peer-to-peer exchange and access to the world’s leading stroke specialists.

For further information on the Angels Initiative, visit: https://www.angels-initiative.com/

Please click on the following link for ‘Notes to Editors’ and ‘References’: http://www.boehringer-ingelheim.com/press-release/network-1500-stroke-ready-clinics-across-europe

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