Gold standard care recognised at AWH this World Stroke Day
Wednesday, 29 October 2025 / Albury Wodonga Health
This World Stroke Day (29 October), Albury Wodonga Health is celebrating achieving World Stroke Organisation (WSO) Angels Award Gold Status for excellence in stroke treatment and care.
In Australia, one stroke occurs every 11 minutes. And every minute counts in stroke care.
The Angels initiative, a partnership between the World Stroke Organisation, European Stroke Organisation and Boehringer Ingelheim, aims to optimise the standard of treatment in stroke centres worldwide and improve patient outcomes by setting global benchmarks for best practice stroke care.
The international award recognises hospitals that have demonstrated a clear commitment to quality stroke care and treatment, including fast access to life-saving thrombolysis within the critical 60-minute window.
AWH’s success reflects the ongoing work of the Enhancing Stroke Care Collaborative team, which has implemented a range of targeted improvements designed to ensure every minute counts when treating stroke.
A key initiative has been the introduction of a time-stamping document, which ensures the door-to-thrombolysis target of less than 60 minutes remains a central focus for all clinicians and keeps the critical “time is brain” principle at the forefront of every stroke response.
Observational audits and strengthened data collection and analysis have also supported a culture of continuous improvement, helping teams track performance, benchmark results, and make data-informed decisions to strengthen the quality and timeliness of stroke care delivery.
These efforts have led to a significant reduction in door-to-thrombolysis times, with more patients receiving timely treatment within the critical 60-minute window. The initiatives have led to faster interventions, better patient outcomes, and a more streamlined stroke response process.
Looking ahead, the team is trialling a new Code Stroke flow chart to further streamline decision-making for hyper-acute stroke response. It is also working with the Angels Initiative to conduct multidisciplinary simulations with emergency, medical, radiology, and nursing teams to strengthen coordination, identify improvement opportunities and reinforce best practice.
The team is also focusing on improving safe swallowing screening and optimising stroke unit utilisation, ensuring that every aspect of the patient journey aligns with evidence-based, best-practice standards.