The project by the Department of Adult Speech and Language Therapy proved a huge success in helping to improve patient care.They developed a special training tool to help staff assess stroke patients swallowing ability and make the right referral.
Stroke patients are at heightened risk of developing aspirational pneumonia, caused when food or gastric acid gets into the lungs because of poor swallowing ability.
In the past this meant that patients would have to be nil-by mouth until they could be assessed by someone from the SLT team but the Successful Acute Stroke Swallow Screening Training programme changed that.
Ruth Nieuwenhuis, Head of Adult Speech and Language Therapy Service, said that previous attempts to deliver a successful programme had failed for a number of reasons but that the team had been able to deliver on a key Welsh Government goal.
She said: “Training is simple but slick and systematic. They are given a 35 minute introductory session and then complete a 45 minute e-learning session on the web, time for which was arranged thanks to the support from ward staff.
“The results have been a huge increase in out of hour referrals where as before people would have to wait, often having to be nil by mouth, before assessment.
“It has worked really well. We have got less instances of aspirational pneumonia and the quality of care is improving.”
Mrs Nieuwenhuis said that the original pilot at University Hospital Llandough had now been expanded to University Hospital of Wales where it continues to be a success.
She said: “The pilot was a success because we worked closely with staff on the stroke ward at UHL and the improvements the training is making in UHW shows how collaborative working can really make a difference to patients.”
