We're excited to launch a new quality standard for BC’s health care system that focuses on improving stroke care.

Quality standards are tools for helping our health care systems deliver consistent, high-quality care to support the health of patients and the population. They describe key aspects of high-quality services for a condition or topic to guide opportunities for improvement. Quality standards feature concise future-focused statements and indicators to measure progress that service as common goals to which our health care system can aspire. They are evidence-based and progress toward them will lead to better health outcomes.

The new Stroke Quality Standard supports:

• People with stroke to understand key aspects of high-quality stroke care, and to make informed decisions in partnership with their health care teams;
• Health care professionals to make decisions about appropriate care; and
• Health care organizations to examine their systems and policies, and improve the services they provide.

Who Leads Quality Standards?
Quality standards are a key element in the Provincial Health Services Authority’s clinical policy framework that aims to improve the quality and consistency of care for identified topics or conditions. The BC Patient Safety & Quality Council was asked to lead the development of quality standards because of our expertise on health care quality, our ability to coordinate action across the health care system and our unique role as a quality-focused organization outside of the direct delivery of care.

Stroke Services BC is partnering with health authorities to implement the Stroke Quality Standard. It will be used to prioritize and guide improvement work. Stroke Services BC will monitor progress using the indicators in the quality standard.

Why Was Stroke the First Topic?
Stroke is a leading cause of death and disability, but in recent years efforts to prevent and treat stroke are leading to improvements in stroke care and decreases in death and disability rates in BC. This quality standard provides a provincially coordinated approach to continuing this improvement by focusing on reducing unwarranted variation (variation in care received that cannot be explained by a patient’s condition or preferences).

How Was the Stroke Quality Standard Developed?
We brought together an expert group, including people with lived experience, clinical experts, health system leaders and researchers, to guide the development of the standard and its Patient, Caregiver and Family Guide. Read more about how patient partners helped develop the standard.

How does the Stroke Quality Standard improve care?
How are best practice guidelines and quality standards different?
What was the public review process?

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