Netcare St Anne’s Hospital in Pietermaritzburg has been recognised with top-level Diamond status by the World Stroke Organisation (WSO) Angels Initiative for its role in delivering outstanding emergency stroke care.
The award was presented recently to Dr Zaheer Sacoor, who has been instrumental in the establishment and success of the unit, at the 16th World Stroke Congress held in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, in commemoration of National Stroke Week (28 October-3 November), reports IOL.
The congress unites stroke professionals, researchers, support organisations, and policymakers from around the globe, focusing on sharing the latest advancements and clinical guidelines, and fostering international collaboration to alleviate the burden of stroke worldwide.
To qualify for the awards, hospitals must register with and submit data to the RES-Q quality of stroke care registry, an initiative of the ESO East that now includes WSO and is the basis of the international awards evaluation criteria.
This registry allows for international benchmarking and continuous improvement and monitoring to ensure consistency of quality stroke care.
In this regard, Netcare St Anne's stood out as the first hospital in KwaZulu-Natal to achieve Diamond status, and was the sole WSO Angels Initiative award recipient in the Msunduzi district.
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