THE stroke service at the Royal Bournemouth Hospital has been named one of the best in the country.

The unit was placed in the top five per cent across England, Wales and Northern Ireland in the Sentinel Stroke National Audit Programme, which rates services on a scale from A-E.

RBH was one of only 25 trusts, out of 213 total, to achieve an A rating and were in the top 11 trusts overall.

Among the unit's recent patients is Szczepan Kobryn, a 36-year-old construction project manager who was alone at home when he had his stroke.

"I remember every minute of that day as was awake and conscious all the time, I just was unable to move or talk although I knew exactly what was happening to me," he said.

"My eyes were burning but I did not feel any pain and for four hours I was unable to move or to call anyone as my phone was too far to reach although it was just one metre from my bed."

Szczepan was eventually found by his business partner who contacted paramedics, and he was taken to RBH where he spent six days on the unit. He has since been able to return to work.

"I received very good, effective care and support all the way through my time in hospital from a very professional team," he said.

"I would like to thank the hospital team who saved my life and helped me with my recovery."

The audit reviews performance for 44 key indicators which follow the entire 'inpatient pathway' - from admission through to discharge.

Factors include the length of time between a patient with a suspected stroke arriving in hospital and having a brain scan, how quickly patients are transferred onto the stroke unit and the amount of specialist therapy they receive.

Stroke services manager Claire Stalley said “We are absolutely delighted with our latest results, and extremely proud of the service that we provide.

"The stroke team has worked extremely hard over the past 12 to 18 months implementing a number of improvement initiatives to ensure that we are consistently able to provide the highest standard of quality stroke care."