Background
- The Sentinel Stroke National Audit Programme (SSNAP) (www.strokeaudit.org) measures how well stroke care is being delivered in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
- SSNAP provides timely information to clinicians, commissioners, patients and the public so it can be used to improve the quality of care that is provided to patients.
- Following on from updates to the National Clinical Guideline for Stroke and NICE Stroke rehabilitation in adults, the SSNAP dataset was changed in October 2024 to allow measurement against new evidence-based standards.
Information about scoring updates
- SSNAP will now score hospitals based on the care they provide against a total of 40 key indicators grouped into 7 domains covering key aspects of stroke care, attributing an A to E scores. A detailed guide on how the recalibrated scores are calculated is here. Further information about the updated SSNAP metrics that contribute to scoring can be found here.
- Changes in SSNAP included a recalibration of the scoring system that has been used for the past ten years to measure the quality of delivery of inpatient stroke. A guide on how scores were historically calculated is here.
- Teams will receive their new scores in June, following introduction of the updated dataset in October 2024. SSNAP results can be found here.
- As this a recalibration, SSNAP expect a change to the overall distribution of teams in the relevant A-E categories, with a higher proportion in the lower categories. It is important to note that this reflects the new targets, not a sudden deterioration in the quality of stroke care.
- A moving up of the thresholds needed to achieve scores was required in line with a resetting of ambition and expectation, guided by the updated evidence.
- The changes to scoring avoids a 'ceiling effect’ where sites consistently scoring A or B previously may have felt there was no impetus any longer to improve.
- The recalibration has created the headroom for a renewed ambition to improve against the updated standards over the next 5-10 years.
Please see here for a letter from SSNAP clinical director, Professor Martin James further outlining this scoring recalibration, which we recommend you share within your trust and with those reviewing this report.