Objective: To audit the process of stroke care.
Design: Retrospective case record evaluation using an audit package designed by the Royal College of Physicians of London.
Setting: Institute of Neurology, National Hospital of Sri Lanka, Colombo.
Patients: 263 patients with stroke admitted over a period of 3 years.
Measurements: Documentation of 60 audit items related to 13 aspects of stroke care.
Results: The process of care was considered 'very good' for only 11 (18.3%), and 'good' for only 9 (15%) of the audit items. Care was 'average' for 5 (8.3%), 'poor' for 9 (15%) and 'very poor' for 26 (43.3%) of the items.
Conclusions: Stroke care was suboptimal in many aspects. Care related to rehabilitation oriented neurological assessments, initiation of secondary preventive measures, rehabilitation planning and discharge planning were especially deficient. Competing interests: none declared. Some of the data reported in this paper have been presented at the Annual Scientific Sessions of the Sri Lanka Medical Association, 1998.