UCLH, as part of UCL Partners, is proud be to designated as one of eight hyper-acute stroke units (HASUs) in London and the only one in the North Central London. This forms part of Healthcare for London’s plan for the improvement in the quality of stroke care.
The HASU consistently delivers high-quality stroke care and excellent outcomes for stroke patients by taking advantage of world-class expertise at UCLH and at the NHNN. UCLH/NHNN, in partnership with UCL Institute of Neurology, has the largest translational academic stroke programme in London and one of the largest in Europe.
The NHNN runs the HASU at UCH with a highly skilled multidisciplinary team led by the Queen Square Division. It provides rapid assessment, thrombolytic and interventional treatment to patients in the hyperacute phase following stroke.
The dedicated HASU admits acute stroke patients from across North Central London, and brings experts and equipment under one roof to provide world-class treatment 24 hours a day, reducing death rates and long-term disability. This includes:
- rapid assessment – a patient will arrive in the specialist stroke centre, be assessed by a specialist and have access to a brain scan within 30 minutes of arrival
- early treatment using clot-busting drugs (thrombolysis), if the scan shows they are needed
- 24/7 monitoring and physiological intervention in a high-dependency bed
- a multidisciplinary specialist team on call '24/7'. This includes consultant neurologists, neurosurgeons and interventional radiologists, specialist nurses and therapists.