Yeovil leads the way in important stroke trial

THE Stroke Team at Yeovil District Hospital have made a terrific start to 2013 by recruiting 25 patients for a major national trial into stroke care – the highest number of any hospital in the UK.

Professor Julie Bernhardt, physiotherapist and programme director, said that the stroke rehabilitation clincial trial - called AVERT - was the biggest ever conducted.

"We aretesting the impact of very early stroke rehabilitation on death and disability and hope to show that early rehabilitation can improve recovery from stroke," she said.

"We are excited that the stroke unit team from Yeovil District Hospital have joined the study, and have already made a very valuable contribution.  What we hope to prove at the end of AVERT is that it is never too soon to start exercise after a stroke.”

PHOTO: Winifred Clarke, 87, with physiotherapist, Charlotte Dunn.

Debbie Neal, consultant therapist at Yeovil, said: “I think it is so important that every stroke unit, not just those at the largest hospitals are involved in research. Involvement in research gives local people the opportunity to have the very latest treatments and gives them the best possible chance of a good recovery after stroke.”

The AVERT trial is an initiative of the Florey Neuroscience Institutes Melbourne, Australia, with funding support in the UK from The Stroke Association.

AVERT is recruiting patients in 50 hospitals in five countries and the trial will be completed when over 2,000 patients have been recruited. To be eligible, people need to reach a participating hospital within 24 hours of having a stroke.

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