Green light for new acute stroke centre in West Sussex
Plans for a new acute stroke centre in Chichester will see services removed from Worthing Hospital.
An acute stroke centre will be developed in Chichester to ‘further improve outcomes for people who experience a stroke’, the NHS Sussex Integrated Care Board has announced.
Following a public consultation, the board agreed proposals to expand stroke services at St Richard’s Hospital at its meeting in public on Wednesday (November 29).
A spokesperson for the board said: “To make the changes, and realise the benefits, it will mean that Worthing Hospital will no longer receive people who are experiencing a stroke.
"Once the acute stroke centre is in place, people experiencing a stroke in the Worthing area will be taken by ambulance to St Richard’s Hospital in Chichester or the comprehensive stroke centre at Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton which already provides 24/7 specialist stroke services.”
The NHS said these ‘carefully managed’ proposals have received ‘widespread support’ from Healthwatch, Stroke Association, West Sussex HASC – plus all Sussex NHS Trusts and stroke consultant clinicians, including those who work in Worthing. The centre will be led by University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust.
Consultant stroke physician at Worthing Hospital, Dr Rajen Patel, said: "Developing an acute stroke centre in Chichester and expanding the capacity of our new comprehensive stroke centre in Brighton is the best way we can ensure all our patients have access to specialist stroke consultants, nurses, therapists and imaging support, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
“It will save lives, reduce life-changing disabilities and improve stroke care in the coming years for thousands of patients and their loved ones in West Sussex."
For the last five years, leading health professionals in Sussex have been ‘working to review’ existing stroke services and ‘identify where improvements can be made’.
"Whilst current services provide good levels of care, it was recognised further improvements could be made,” a NHS spokesperson said.
"From the outset, the local NHS set out a clear ambition that we want all our hospital stroke services to consistently meet national standards and to deliver excellent stroke care to people living locally, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.”
Dr Simone Ivatts, consultant stroke physician at St Richard's Hospital, said staff in Chichester and Worthing ‘currently provide good stroke care’ but ‘are not meeting the latest national best practice standards’ and delivering access to new specialist treatments ‘quickly enough’ – especially at weekends and overnight.
Dr Ivatts added: “We have spent several years determining how we could improve this for the communities we serve in West Sussex. Developing an expanded and improved Acute Stroke Centre in Chichester, and further strengthening our regional comprehensive stroke centre service in Brighton, is going to offer the best service for everyone.
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