Somerset health board defends removal of Yeovil's hyper acute stroke unit
It comes as ambulance response times rise by more than 40% in 5 years
Somerset health bosses have defended their planned changes to Yeovil Hospital’s stroke unit in the face of longer ambulance waiting times for stroke victims.
The NHS Somerset integrated care board (ICB) is currently implementing plans to remove Yeovil’s hyper-acute stroke unit (HASU) – meaning all patients who have suffered a serious, life-threatening stroke will have to be taken to either Dorchester or Taunton for treatment.
The Liberal Democrats have published data showing stroke patients in the south west face longer waits for ambulances during the winter months, with party leader Sir Ed Davey MP calling for the government to “winter-proof” the NHS through additional investment.
NHS Somerset has stated that its changes will improve patient outcomes and have been approved by the government, despite the efforts of local MP Adam Dance to ‘call in’ the decision.
The South Western Ambulance Service has different response time targets to meet depending on the category of the patient, which is assigned when a 999 call is made.
For category one cases (demanding “an immediate response to a life-threatening condition”, such as a cardiac or respiratory arrest), the average response time should be under seven minutes.
In the winter of 2023/24 (the most recent figures available), the average category one response in the south west was more than nine-and-a-half minutes – which has risen by more than 44 per cent since 2018/19.
For category two cases (such as a stroke or chest pain, which “may require rapid assessment and/ or urgent transport”), the average response time should be under 18 minutes.
In the winter of 2023/24, the average response time to a category two emergency was 47 minutes – 12.9 per cent higher than during the rest of the year.
During a recent visit to Cornwall, Mr Davey said: “People are waiting far too long in pain and distress for an ambulance to arrive, and every year we see those delays soar during another NHS winter crisis.
“A matter of minutes can make the difference between life and death in an emergency, so these delays can be catastrophic for patients in the south west.
“The Conservative party left our NHS on its knees; now we need the Labour Government to act far more quickly to fix it.
“The Liberal Democrats are calling for ministers to invest now to winter-proof our NHS, so that patients get the emergency care they need and no one has to wait longer for an ambulance than absolutely necessary.”
Dr Bernie Marden, chief medical officer for NHS Somerset, said that the changes to the Yeovil HASU were “the right one for the people of Somerset” and were expected to go live by early-2026.
He added: “The importance of fast treatment at a HASU is undisputed, and our decision aims to make sure patients receive that level of expert care at any time of day or night in Taunton and Dorchester.
“Somerset NHS Foundation Trust has confirmed to us that the stroke service at Yeovil Hospital recently trialled providing an on-site seven-day consultant-led service.
“This trial was stopped before Christmas because it was proved to be unsustainable with the number of consultants who work at the hospital.
“The health secretary recently decided that all requests to ‘call in’ our January 2024 decision do not meet the threshold for ministerial intervention.
“The government also confirmed that NHS Somerset is best placed to determine the needs of our local population.
“We will continue to work closely with partners, patient groups, staff and local MPs, including through our stroke stakeholder reference group, which is well established and is independently chaired by Healthwatch Somerset, to make sure local voices are heard through the implementation phase.”