A SPECIALIST stroke unit at Barnsley Hospital could close when a decision on the future of stroke services is made by health chiefs next week.
Hyper acute stroke units, which provide the first 72 hours of critical care, have been reviewed across South Yorkshire by Commissioners Working Together, a group of eight NHS clinical commissioning groups and NHS England.
Under new proposals, the Barnsley and Rotherham units will be closed and anyone who suffers a stroke will be taken to either Doncaster, Sheffield or Chesterfield for the first 72 hours of care, or until medically stable. After that time, if well enough, they will be brought back to Barnsley for the remainder of their care.
The review has been prompted by concerns from health bosses that people receive different standards of care depending on where they live.
The unit at Barnsley Hospital has been operational since 2010, treating about 450 stroke patients every year. But health chiefs say this is less than the recommended ‘best practice’ minimum of 600.
In addition to this, the unit is not always able to meet ‘door to needle time’ treatment targets for patients, which refers to the time between a stroke patient arriving at a hospital and receiving thrombolysis a treatment that should ideally be given to stroke patients within 30 to 60 minutes.
Led in partnership by the clinical commissioning groups, the review, case for change and business case have been developed over the last three years.
Clinicians, service managers and patients have been involved in the work, which has looked at patient experience and outcomes, staffing levels and each place’s ability to meet the necessary standards for their service.
The public consultation took place between October and February this year, and the findings and feedback received has been incorporated.
The decision will be announced on Wednesday at Sheffield Clinical Commissioning Group at 4pm.
The meeting is open to the public and will be live-streamed and made available on the Health and Care Working Together website.
