Comprehensive Stroke Care Centre

We provide diagnosis and treatment for people who have experienced a stroke and conduct research to help improve the care and treatment of stroke patients in future.

Key points

The RMH has produced world-renowned clinical trials in endovascular clot retrieval and stroke thrombolysis
Our centre includes the Mobile Stroke Unit, Australia’s first CT-equipped stroke treatment ambulance

Patients need a referral from their GP or healthcare provider. Access referral information

What we do

Our Comprehensive Stroke Care Centre provides rapid diagnosis and treatment for people with stroke.

We provide pre-hospital, inpatient and outpatient services including:

31 bed stroke and neurology inpatient ward with telemetry monitoring
Mobile Stroke Unit - Australia’s first CT-equipped stroke treatment ambulance
Acute stroke thrombolysis
Multimodal CT and MRI imaging
Endovascular clot retrieval – designated statewide stroke neurointerventional centre
Neurosurgical referral service
Stroke rehabilitation services
Stroke followup and TIA rapid access clinics

Our clinics

Clinic name	Location	Options
Stroke Follow Up Clinic	The RMH Parkville
Trans Ischaemic Attack (TIA) Clinic	The RMH Parkville
Trans Ischaemic Attack (TIA) Rapid Access Clinic	The RMH Parkville	Medicare

Our clinics

Stroke Follow Up Clinic

The RMH Parkville

Trans Ischaemic Attack (TIA) Clinic

The RMH Parkville

Trans Ischaemic Attack (TIA) Rapid Access Clinic

The RMH Parkville

Medicare

For patients

For health professionals

Referrals

We accept GP and specialist referrals:

Use the RMH referral form or a template from your own system
Complete and fax your referral to Specialist Clinics (Outpatients) on (03) 9342 4234

We do not accept email referrals.

What to include in your referral

As outlined by the Department of Health, referral requests should include:

Patient demographic information
Referrer demographic information
Reason for referral
Presenting problem
Service(s) requested
Required referral information specified by statewide or local referral criteria
Current patient management
Impact of the problem on the patient
Name of the consultant and provider number (for Medicare clinics)
Investigation reports related to the referral

Urgent and after-hours support

Referrals are triaged based on priority. In an emergency, patients can go to the Emergency & Trauma Service at any time.

For advice, urgent referrals and out of hours support, call The RMH Switchboard on (03) 9342 7000 to page our registrar on call.

View Dept of Health guidelines

Statewide referral criteria

HealthPathways Melbourne provides guidance on best practice assessment and management of common medical conditions, including when and where to refer patients.

Parkville Connect is a secure web-based portal providing GPs, specialists and other health professionals with information in the Parkville electronic medical record (EMR).

Clinical overview

The Royal Melbourne Hospital (RMH) Comprehensive Stroke Care Centre is a world-renowned tertiary academic unit that provides leading care for patients from across Victoria.

The RMH Stroke Unit is staffed at all hours by an on-call neurology registrar. As a designated statewide endovascular centre, endovascular clot retrieval services are also available at all hours for patients across Victoria.

The RMH Stroke Research Group is based in the Melbourne Brain Centre and runs an active program including world-leading clinical trials. The RMH has produced world-renowned clinical trials in endovascular clot retrieval (EXTEND-IA) and stroke thrombolysis (EXTEND-IA TNK, EXTEND-IA TNK).

Patients may be asked to participate in our research projects to help improve the care and treatment of stroke patients in future.

Need to change or cancel your appointment?

Do one of the following:

Access Health Hub to change the appointment yourself
Complete our online form and we'll change it for you
Call Specialist Clinics (Outpatients) on (03) 9342 7393 and we'll help you over the phone

What to bring

Every time you come

Every time you come in for a test, day procedure, surgery or treatment, you should bring:

Medicare card
Health Care card (if you have one)
Concession card (if you have one)
Adverse drug alert card (if you have one)
Medications you are currently taking, including any that you have bought without a prescription
X-ray films, scans, ultrasounds or any other test results you have which are related to your procedure
Private health insurance card (if you want to use it)
Aids (glasses, hearing aid, walking frame)