When acute stroke care is organised using a “drip-and-ship” model, patients receive immediate treatment at the nearest primary stroke centre followed by transfer to a comprehensive stroke centre (CSC). When stroke care is further centralised into the “direct-to-mothership” model, patients with stroke symptoms are immediately brought to a CSC to further reduce treatment times and enhance stroke outcomes. We investigated the effects of the ongoing centralization in a Dutch urban setting on treatment times of patients with confirmed ischemic stroke in a 4-year period. Next, in a non-randomized controlled trial, we assessed treatment times of patients with suspected ischemic stroke, and treatment times of patients with neurologic disorders other than suspected ischemic stroke, before and after the intervention in the CSC and the decentralized hospitals, the intervention being the change from “drip and ship” into “direct-to-mothership”. Our findings provide support for the ongoing centralization of acute stroke care in urban areas. Treatment times for patients with ischemic stroke decreased significantly, potentially improving functional outcomes. Improvements in treatment times for patients with suspected ischemic stroke were achieved without negative side effects for self-referrals with stroke symptoms and patients with other neurological disorders.

Background: Emergency departments (EDs) worldwide face crowding, which hampers patient flow. In this study, the impact of a dedicated neurologist present at the ED on patient flow during out-of-office hours was assessed. Methods: A cross-sectional, mixed methods study was undertaken at a Dutch ED, including a pre-post analysis of data of patients who had a primary neurological disease (n = 458) and staff surveys (n = 152). Descriptive statistics and content analysis were used for analyses. Results: Despite a 36% increase in the number of neurological patients (control period: n = 194, intervention period n = 264), a 30 min per patient decrease in ED median length of stay (LOS) was reached during the intervention period. Furthermore, the admission percentage decreased significantly (57.7% in the control period vs. 47.7% in the intervention period, p = 0.03). During half of the shifts neurologists stated that their presence had been valuable. Perceived reasons for this added value mentioned were improved quality of care, enhanced throughput of patients, and quicker consultations with other medical specialists. Conclusions: In our hypothesis-generating study, a dedicated neurologist present at the ED during out-of-office hours was associated with decreased patients’ LOS and a decreased admission percentage, indicating increased decisiveness when the neurologist is present at the ED.