ABSTRACT NUMBER: ESOC2026YS157 IMPROVING TIME TO CT IMAGING FOR PATIENTS WITH SUSPECTED ACUTE STROKE: A QUALITY IMPROVEMENT PROJECT

Abstract Background and aims In a regional stroke centre in the South-East of England, care is provided by a hyperacute stroke team within hours, and the on-call medical team out of hours (OOH). Timely neuroimaging and admission to a Hyperacute Stroke Unit (HASU) are critical in managing acute strokes. This Quality Improvement project aimed to reduce the time from admission to imaging (ATI), and subsequent admission to the HASU (ATH) by December 2025, in a 400-bed acute District General Hospital. Methods Data was collected retrospectively, with patients located using an acute admission logging tool. Electronic patient records allowed data collection of ATI and ATH. Initially, data was collected between August and October 2025, with an educational poster introduced in clinical areas in October. Post-intervention data was collected in October and November 2025. Results 187 acute stroke calls were assessed over a 3-month period. Pre-intervention, mean ATI of the stroke team was 26 minutes, compared to an ATI of 72 mins (p<0.001) for the OOH team. Mean ATH of the stroke team was 329 minutes compared with 515 minutes for the OOH team (p<0.001). Post-intervention, mean ATI for the OOH team reduced from 72 to 38 minutes (p<0.001), with median ATI dropping from 61 to 31 minutes. Mean ATH for the OOH team reduced from 515.5 to 359.6 minutes, but this was not statistically significant. Conclusion This project showed that a simple educational intervention could improve awareness of existing pathways, leading to significant reductions in time to imaging. This could benefit other similar pathways. Conflict of interest Stephen Gordon: nothing to disclose. Yoon Soo Park: nothing to disclose. Brendan Affley: nothing to disclose.