Professor Gary Ford leads Oxford AHSN response to COVID-19 pandemic
Professor Gary Ford (front left) with colleagues at an Oxford AHSN Away Day before the pandemic and current social distancing guidelines.
Governing Body Fellow Professor Gary Ford is leading a substantial amount of work in response to the COVID-19 pandemic through his role as Chief Executive of the Oxford Academic Health Science Network.
Professor Ford, a practising stroke consultant at Oxford University Hospitals and Professor of Stroke Medicine at the University of Oxford, has co-written two sets of guidance on stroke services, providing practical advice to help stroke teams across England deliver high quality care during the pandemic while also ensuring staff wellbeing and safety.
The first guidance, ‘Adapting stroke services in the COVID-19 pandemic’, was published in May, while ‘Restoration and recovery of stroke services during the COVID-19 pandemic’ followed in July.
Both publications were co-written by Professor Ford and the stroke leads for the Getting It Right First Time programme.
Topics covered in the documents, which were based on ongoing discussions with stroke teams, include: infection control; COVID-19 testing for suspected stroke patients and staff; how COVID-19 measures such as enhanced cleaning and PPE have impacted the efficiency of services; and the effectiveness of virtual clinics. The guidelines, which are intended as evolving advice, also address how to provide community-based rehabilitation during the pandemic.
The Oxford AHSN has also led a regional project across stroke services in the Thames Valley, using artificial intelligence imaging, which has helped address the disruption caused by COVID-19 to stroke services.
E-Stroke Suite Technology, which incorporates AI software, allows high quality CT brain scans to be shared rapidly and securely between hospitals. The scans can be viewed by specialists regardless of their location, allowing treatment advice to be given quickly to facilitate the best outcomes for stroke patients.
The technology is currently being used by hospitals across six NHS trusts that serve more than three million people, including Oxford University Hospitals, making this region the first in the country to include an integrated regional AI stroke network.
Professor Ford has been CEO of the Oxford AHSN since 2013. The organisation, which is part of the national AHSN Network, gets innovation into clinical practice to improve patients’ safety and experiences, and generate economic growth through collaboration between the NHS, industries and universities.
In addition to the stroke services guidelines, Professor Ford is currently working on guidance for improving cardiovascular disease prevention in the context of the pandemic, alongside Governing Body Fellow Professor Richard McManus.
