EAST Hampshire District Council has raised concerns about the NHS’ ability to deal with changes to the treatment of stroke patients, which is being proposed.

The council’s worry follows a consultation on options to concentrate specialist stroke treatment at Frimley Park Hospital, near Camberley, rather than at the Royal Surrey County Hospital in Guildford.

The proposal affects East Hampshire residents who account for 15 per cent of patients now being treated at Frimley Park.

In a response to the NHS consultation, the district council’s portfolio holder for health and wellbeing, Ingrid Thomas (Conservative, Four Marks and Medstead) has sought reassurances that the extra time needed for ambulances to get to specialist facilities at Frimley will not harm patients.

East Hampshire District Council places the health and wellbeing of our residents at the core of everything we do,” she said.

“The proposed changes to the Royal Surrey County Hospital stroke services have a potentially serious effect on our residents and we have, therefore, considered carefully the possible solutions to improve access to services.

“We understand and support the need for a hyper-acute stroke-care unit (HASU) as it will enable the best outcomes for our residents.

“The training of staff and the expertise that is offered enables a better chance of life with less disability, and is welcomed.

“Crucially, we have also noted that the time taken to treat patients is much faster in a HASU because of the number of trained staff and other facilities available, which are also on site.

“We also understand that Frimley Park is currently in a better position to offer the best treatment for our residents due to problems at the Royal Surrey with staffing and facilities.

“But we do have concerns about the critical time element of stroke treatment.

“We have been told that it is crucial for patients who may be suitable for thrombolytic therapy (a treatment to dissolve dangerous clots in blood vessels, improve blood flow and prevent damage to tissues and organs) to be assessed and given the vital injection anywhere between two and four and a half hours from the time of the brain accident.”

In her response to the consultation, Ms Thomas said: “Therefore, I would seek your reassurance that the ambulance service is committed to this new model and will have the resources and capacity to be able to deliver against this vital target.

“East Hampshire residents make up 15 per cent of the patients now being treated at Frimley Park instead of Guildford, and all of them will have had to make a longer, and potentially more difficult, journey to the hospital. We have been assured that this slightly longer journey time will be made up by the faster treatment time once the patient arrives in the HASU, especially in terms of outcomes for that patient.

“Consequently, our significant concern remains the ambulance service, which is considered by many to be under performing - response times are far longer than acceptable; journey times may be longer than expected and all of which delays the time for a patient to be treated.

“We have been told that the ambulance service is currently under new directorship and things are anticipated to improve.

“However, this has yet to happen and so I wish to know how you propose to formally monitor the ambulance-service performance, both operationally and strategically, to ensure the much-needed improvements are actioned?”

Whitehill and Bordon, one of the NHS’ 10 designated Healthy New Towns, falls under the control of the South Eastern Hampshire Clinical Commissioning Group. While the changes to specialist stroke services are being led by the Guildford and Waverley Clinical Commissioning Group, an NHS spokesman confirmed they would affect residents in areas looked after by the South East Hampshire Clinical Commissioning Group.