Reassurances over Scarborough stroke patients' direct journey to York
That was the main concern from the public who attended a virtual event earlier this week
There has been reassurances for people in Scarborough that the journey to York if they have had a stroke is quicker and more effective.
That was the main concern from the public who attended a virtual event earlier this week, hosted by North Yorkshire and East Riding Clinical Commissioning Groups and Healthwatch North Yorkshire.
Last year it was decided that patients in Scarborough would directly be admitted to York's hyper-acute stroke unit instead, as it has better facilities with trained and dedicated staff.
Ashley Green, Chief Executive of Healthwatch North Yorkshire, said:
"There were questions really around the reassurance about maybe why people couldn't receive treatment at their local Scarborough Hospital. It's very much around the centre of excellence and the best care that they will receive will be at these hyper-acute stroke units rather than having care within local Scarborough Hospital.
"There really hasn't been a full stroke service I think since 2015 at Scarborough Hospital, then after that there was a 'drip and ship' model where actually some patients would have an initial assessment and a scan at Scarborough Hospital, and then patients would be sent to their nearest hyper-acute stroke unit which would normally be York.
"Due to a reduction in specialist staffing for stroke care within Scarborough Hospital, it was felt that the best move was to move to a more direct model where people could receive a quality and safer service, and depending on where you live in Scarborough most people would then go to York and that's really the recommended model from NHS England.
"There are still challenges within the stroke service particularly around community support for people. There are still challenges around the Yorkshire Ambulance Service around staffing and these are things that health services are working on and are putting together action plans around those."
There are hyper-acute stroke units in York, Leeds, Hull and Middlesbrough.
The questions and answers from the virtual event will be published on Healthwatch North Yorkshire's website and the CCGs websites in the future.