New acute stroke centre approved for West Sussex area
Continued from the front page.
“It means everyone living locally will be within the critical 60 minutes of a specialist stroke centre open all day and night to provide fast, effective and modern treatments that will undoubtedly help to save more lives and improve life after stroke for many more people living in West Sussex."
The NHS described strokes as a ‘preventable and treatable disease’ despite being ‘one of the leading causes’ of death in the UK and the ‘largest single cause of severe disability’.
A spokesperson added: “One in eight strokes are fatal within the first 30 days, with one in four strokes fatal within a year.”
The recommendation for the acute stroke centre at St Richard’s Hospital – working as part of a network with the comprehensive stroke centre at the RSCH in Brighton – was ‘considered to be the only clinically viable option’, the NHS Board said.
The spokesperson continued: “It is supported by all partners across Sussex, including South East Coast Ambulance NHS Foundation Trust, Sussex Community NHS Foundation Trust, Sussex Partnership NHS
Foundation Trust, and GP clinical leads.
“The new centre will ensure that people living in Adur, Arun, Chichester, Worthing and south of Horsham have access to high quality hospital-based stroke care 24 hours a day.
“The centre will have stroke specialists around the clock and have consultants available seven days a week, with access to all the equipment they need for diagnosing and treating stroke patients.”
Dinesh Sinha, Chief Medical Officer at NHS Sussex, said: "We are delighted that plans to a develop an acute stroke centre in West Sussex have been approved.
"This new centre will have a significant benefit for people in and around the area, will further improve the care they receive when they are experiencing a stroke, and mean better outcomes for local people.
"This is the result of years of hard work led by the leading stroke professionals in the area, and I want to thank them and everyone involved for their determination and commitment to develop proposals that are going to improve the lives of people across West Sussex."