Emergency stroke cases likely to travel further (From This Is Local London)

Emergency stroke cases likely to travel further

7:00am Friday 17th April 2009 in

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STROKE patients from Enfield are likely to be forced to travel further while suffering a seizure under plans to further rejig the NHS.

One of the latest big ideas in London is the creation of eight specialist stroke and trauma centres around the capital, one of which will either be at Barnet Hospital or in Northwick Park Hospital, Harrow in West London.

Treatment of a stroke in the early stages is crucial to saving lives and preventing long-term damage, and the Government target is that all people should be within 30 minutes ambulance ride of treatment.

According to Barnet and Chase Farm Hospitals Trust, which is fighting for the “hyper-acute stroke unit”, a local centre would meet that target.

Barnet and Chase Farm hospitals had 672 emergency stroke admissions in 2007, while Northwick Park had just 465.

Yet Healthcare for London, the body which represents all PCTs across London, said in its stroke consultation document that: “Both hospitals showed they could equally meet future standards. Northwick Park is our preferred site for the hyper-acute stroke unit as it provides better travel times and its location better reflects existing patient flows.”

If the unit were to be created at the Harrow hospital, then fewer stroke patients would be treated at the Barnet hospital and the service downgraded.

According to the trust’s Chief Executive Averil Dongworth, Barnet Hospital is in the middle of an ageing population group that is associated with the highest number of strokes.

She said: “The hospital is in the right place to receive and treat patients across north London and south Hertfordshire. We have experienced and dedicated staff to help patients who suffer a stroke.

“Care in a local stroke unit such as Barnet Hospital would significantly improve recovery and help with later care in the community.”

Healthcare for London claims that five hundred lives a year will be saved through the creation of specialist stroke and trauma centres in London.

They say concentrating expert clinical care and the latest technology would treat the most serious and life-threatening cases more efficiently, which would be backed up by a network of A&E and stroke units across the capital dealing with less serious cases, rehabilitation and continued treatment.

Experts say that thrombolysis, the use of clot-busting drugs, needs to occur within three hours of the onset of a stroke to be effective, and a CT scan is required before thrombolysis can occur.

They say that in 2006, no London hospital provided 90 per cent of patients with a scan within 24 hours and the thinking is that in a dedicated stroke unit this target would be more easily met.

Despite Chase Farm Hospital having just a 12-hour A&E in the not too distant future, the hospital is officially part of the trauma network.

Barnet Hospital is also planning to become a specialist “Transient Ischemic Centre” where patients who suffer a ‘mini-stroke’ would be assessed, diagnosed and treated, with the aim of reducing the risk of a full stroke in the future.

Healthcare for London will make its decision July 7 but make your views known in the public consultation which ends on Friday, May 8.

Complete an online questionnaire at www.healthcareforlondon.nhs.uk or write to: Freepost RSAE-RCET-ATJY, Healthcare for London, Harrow, HA1 2QG, or call 0808 238 5481 or email hfl@ipsos.com.