Portimão Stroke Unit increases number of inpatient beds

The Stroke Unit at Portimão Hospital celebrated its first anniversary on Wednesday, July 2. Present at the ceremony marking the unit’s first year of operation, the Board of Directors announced an increase in the number of inpatient beds for this service, from the current four to six beds.

The news was received with enthusiasm by the multidisciplinary team who recognized the importance of this increase in capacity.

"This increase will have a very significant impact on the number of patients that can pass through the unit. I am sure that we will be able to respond to at least 80 or 90 more patients per year", says doctor Isabel Taveira, coordinator of the Stroke Unit at Portimão Hospital.

Composed of a multidisciplinary team, the Stroke Unit at Portimão Hospital treated 357 patients in the first year, with an average hospital stay of 3.1 days.

Highlighting the quality of care provided, Isabel Taveira stresses that “the team managed to ensure that the vast majority of patients went home independently, obviously with signs of the stroke, as they are still stroke survivors, but the fewer these signs and the better the quality of life of the patients, the more meaningful our work is”.

Praising the role of all those involved in the creation of the Portimão Stroke Unit, as well as the daily work of the members of the multidisciplinary team, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of ULS Algarve, Tiago Botelho, highlighted the quality of care provided in this unit, which is “a source of pride and a guarantee of safety in this area”, since the Algarve was recognised as the first region in Portugal prepared for stroke by the Angels of the European Stroke Association .

This indicates that the community in the region, with its public hospitals at the forefront, is prepared to detect and treat cases of stroke.

“We have a Stroke Unit here in Portimão that is up and running and ready to receive patients at any time. We have an integrated response and a rehabilitation area, so what we do here is truly a source of pride. I congratulate you on your work, your courage and your ambition in having a service here in this hospital that is responsive, available and that people can trust”, stressed Tiago Botelho.

Also present at the opening session were the clinical director for the area of ​​Hospital Health Care, Ana Paula Fidalgo, and nurse Paula Franco, representing the Nursing Directorate.

Both took the opportunity to highlight the importance of teamwork for the results achieved in this first year of activity, as well as the dedication of the professionals in this unit.

During the ceremony, which filled the auditorium and was attended by several health professionals and users, the professionals from the multidisciplinary team also presented their activities and spoke about topics such as the “Greenway for Stroke”, “Caring for a Stroke”, “The Stroke Experience” and “What Survivors and Caregivers Feel”, also reserving space for personal testimonies from stroke survivors, who attested to and thanked the professionalism of this service.