Cape Town – Karl Bremer Hospital in Cape Town is the first hospital in the province to receive gold status, which was awarded for its contribution to stroke care.
Hypertension or high blood pressure, as it is commonly known, is one of the major global causes of disease and death and it can lead to stroke and heart disease, among other complications.
Ahead of World Hypertension Day on April 17, Karl Bremer Hospital was honoured with gold status in the 2023 World Stroke Organisation (WSO) Angels Awards.
The award comes from Karl Bremer Hospital’s participation in the Angels Initiative by the World Stroke Organisation’s Angels Initiative to enhance patient care and health outcomes in the province.
According to the health department, the Angels Initiative is a global community of stroke centres and stroke-ready hospitals aimed at increasing the quality of treatment for every stroke patient.
“The organisation recognises high performing hospitals, like Karl Bremer Hospital, that have consistently recorded and provided data that will aid research and help identify points of improvement in the treatment of stroke patients,” it said.
Karl Bremer Hospital’s head of Internal Medicine, Dr De Vries Basson, said the hospital joined the Angels Initiative to improve stroke care and empower staff.
He said the hospital had been recognised for its contributions in the first quarter of 2023.
“I think that this is a very important initiative. The Angels Initiative was launched to support hospitals and its aim is to get more health-care facilities stroke ready. This means that we can provide improved stroke care to all who visit Karl Bremer Hospital,” Basson said.
The Angels Initiative’s senior co-ordinator for South Africa, Namibia and Botswana, Renathe van der Merwe, congratulated the hospital.
“On behalf of the Angels Initiative, I would like to send our sincere words of congratulations to the Karl Bremer Stroke Team, on achieving a WSO Angels Gold Award for quarter one of 2023.
“For Karl Bremer to be the first hospital in the Western Cape is excellent and a job very well done! Your contribution to the quality monitoring programme is highly appreciated and valued and considered as a significant step for stroke care improvement in South Africa,” Van der Merwe said.
Basson said he hoped that more hospitals and health-care facilities would join the initiative.
“We need more hospitals in South Africa to not just join Angels, but also record your stroke data. Recording your stroke care data helps you to monitor your own progress of your stroke unit or stroke team. It also helps you to compare your hospital's stroke care and to learn from hospitals across the country and the world,” he said.
The Angels Initiative provides training to hospitals as well as emergency medical services with the aim of improving stroke patients’ recovery.
Basson said the Angels Initiative had supported Karl Bremer with workshops, roadshows, information packs and stroke-ready packs. He said in other hospitals the organisation had assisted with setting up a stroke team or unit.
He congratulated his stroke care team for their efforts.
“I am grateful for this award as I work with a great stroke team at Karl Bremer Hospital. Our team works extremely hard to make sure we get the best outcomes for all of our stroke patients.
“From our doctors and nurses to our rehabilitation staff and social workers, they really go the extra mile to provide the best post-acute care and rehab for our patients. It fills me with joy knowing that our stroke team's efforts are making a difference.
“We know that prevention and stroke care awareness is important. We cannot sleep on this, we must act every day to ensure we provide the best treatment to our patients,” Basson said.