NHS Cumbria & Lancashire Cardiac and Stroke Network (CSNLC) has deployed Polycom RealPresence high-definition video collaboration offerings to save the lives of stroke victims by connecting patients with remote doctors in the time-critical early intervention stage of stroke.
The Polycom video offerings include mobile Practitioner carts in each of the six Acute Trusts in Cumbria and Lancashire and personal video collaboration software running on laptops in each of the consulting physician’s homes.
As part of a new state of the art ‘telestroke’ service, the combined NHS Trusts of Lancashire & Cumbria has selected Polycom RealPresence video offerings and the service reportedly has already positively impacted the treatment of 26 stroke patients in Cumbria and Lancashire by providing access to thrombolysis treatment around the clock.
With Polycom video collaboration, patients get round-the-clock, on-demand, face-to-face access to expert specialist care, no matter where the patients or the consulting doctors are located.
CSNLC selected MultiSense Communications, a Polycom Healthcare Solution Provider, to deploy Polycom video offerings, along with other key technology partners including Virgin Media and Imerja to support the service.
CSNLC Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and Clinical lead, stroke consultant Mark O’Donnell said if a patient arrives in hospital with a stroke, outside the normal working day, a Telestroke consultation will then be commenced.
"The Polycom Practitioner cart contains a screen so the patient can see the consultant remotely and a camera for the consultant to view the patient. The consultant is then able to perform an examination with the help of the team in the hospital to decide whether the symptoms experienced are due to a stroke and whether Thrombolysis (the use of drugs to break up or dissolve blood clots) treatment is appropriate," said Mark.
