Winter has arrived in New Zealand with a bang as it were. Most parts of the country have experienced thunder storms with heavy rain and cold southerly winds. A couple of weeks ago our Stroke Club had a very informative talk by a representative of the Disability Information Centre. This centre was new to me and certainly to others in our group but we learned plenty and the speaker offered practical assistance to stroke survivors.

This week our group went on a bus trip around the edge of Wellington's beautiful harbour. We also paid a visit to the Wellington Life Flight Trust which does rescue work, mainly by helicopter, in the Wellington and upper South Island areas. The organisation also has a fixed wing air ambulance to carry patients throughout the country for urgent specialist medical assistance. The aircraft carried over 1200 patients in the past year. The Trust relies on grants from corporate and the general public and receives no government finance.

The Stroke Foundation of New Zealand publishes a newsletter called "Forward" which a very good name for stroke survivors.  Here is what is to me, a very interesting article from the latest edition.

Christchurch is the largest city in the South Island and there it houses the first hospital in New Zealand to implement the Stroke Foundation's "Life after Stroke," New Zealand guidelines for Stroke Management. The Guidelines, according to health experts, will improve care and life expectancy of stroke survivors while freeing up valuable hospital beds in the region.

Two hundred and thirty New Zealand lives and $(NZ)10 million will be saved annually if the Guidelines are implemented by the 21 District Health Boards nationwide, according to the statistics outlined in the summary of the guidelines. Key recommendations of the guidelines are:     

1.  All District Health Boards should provide organised stroke services.

2.  All people admitted to hospital with stroke should expect to be managed in a stroke unit by a team of health professionals with expertise in stroke and rehabilitation.

Dr Carl Hanger Medical Director for the Southern Region and resident clinician at Christchurch hospital, says that "the organised stroke care in Christchurch dramatically improved in recovery time and rehabilitation outcomes for stroke people in the first two months."

Brian O'Grady, Chief Executive of the Stroke Foundation of New Zealand said, "New Zealand is lagging behind other countries in terms of providing organised stroke services, and emphases the importance of implementing organised stroke services nationally, in order to reduce the future burden of stroke in New Zealand."

Stroke costs taxpayers $(NZ)138 million per year for hospital services alone and the total quantifiable cost of stroke to the country is estimated to be nearer $(NZ)237 million per annum. Now, 9 District Health Boards are working towards the establishment of organised stroke services.