Monthly stroke statistics (FOI)

Request

A

How many strokes happen per month each month of a 12 month year?

B

How many strokes have happened each month for the period 1 January 2020 up to date?

I would like the actual number each month so that I can compare the pre covid period with the covid and vaccine period.

Response

A

2019 data has been provided as it was a full year unaffected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

B

Jersey’s first-wave of lockdown restrictions were implemented on 30 March 2020 with a gradual relaxation starting in May 2020. The ‘COVID-19 Winter Strategy’ was implemented at the end of November / beginning of December 2020 with the island’s first vaccinations starting on 13 December 2020. The Department has determined that where numbers are less than five, to provide the specific number would likely breach the privacy of the individuals. Article 25 (Personal Information) of the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011 has therefore been applied.

Notes:

• each patient identified has only been counted once in each table, though they may have appeared in the data more than once at several stages of their treatment, e.g. for initial treatment and then later for rehabilitation and follow-up

• patient diagnosis is coded upon discharge, therefore any current inpatients receiving treatment for acute stroke or those who are still in rehabilitation and are yet to be discharged will not have been coded yet, so will not have been included in the above data

• as the wording of the request does not differentiate between haemorrhagic or ischaemic stroke, the figures include non-traumatic haemorrhages and cerebral infarctions, all of which fall under the umbrella term of stroke

• any trends observed in pre-vaccination / post-vaccination period could not be interpreted as increased risk associated with vaccination without understanding what percentages of these cases have been vaccinated. This information cannot be captured by coding and is not always provided in the medical record

Article applied

Article 25 Personal information

(1) Information is absolutely exempt information if it constitutes personal data of which the applicant is the data subject as defined in the Data Protection (Jersey) Law 2018.

(2) Information is absolutely exempt information if –

(a) it constitutes personal data of which the applicant is not the data subject as defined in the Data Protection (Jersey) Law 2018; and

(b) its supply to a member of the public would contravene any of the data protection principles, as defined in that Law.

(3) In determining for the purposes of this Article whether the lawfulness principle in Article 8(1)(a) of the Data Protection (Jersey) Law 2018 would be contravened by the disclosure of information, paragraph 5(1) of Schedule 2 to that Law (legitimate interests) is to be read as if sub-paragraph (b) (which disapplies the provision where the controller is a public authority) were omitted