What is SSNAP?

The Sentinel Stroke National Audit Programme (SSNAP) is a major national healthcare quality improvement programme based in the School of Population Health and Environmental Studies at King’s College London. SSNAP measures the quality and organisation of stroke care in the NHS and is the single source of stroke data in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland.

SSNAP measures both the processes of care (clinical audit) provided to stroke patients, as well as the structure of stroke services (organisational audit) against evidence based standards, including the 2016 National Clinical Guideline for Stroke. The overall aim of SSNAP is to provide timely information to clinicians, commissioners, patients, and the public on how well stroke care is being delivered so it can be used as a tool to improve the quality of care that is provided to patients. SSNAP has been voted the most effective national clinical audit in the UK for nine consecutive years by healthcare professionals involved in audit.

There are three main components of SSNAP, the clinical audit, acute organisational audit, and post-acute organisational audit.