Three options open for acute stroke services at Shropshire hospitals

Stroke services were temporarily moved to the Princess Royal Hospital in Telford in the summer due to a shortage of consultants, although stroke rehabilitation services remain at both sites.

The move sparked fears that the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital may lose out and a petition calling on stroke and accident and emergency services to remain in Shrewsbury was signed by more than 11,000 people.

But Adrian Osbourne, communications director at he Shrewsbury and Telford Hospitals NHS Trust, said three options were now open to the trust at a meeting of Montgomeryshire Community Health Council at Coleg Powys in Newtown yesterday.

He said: "Earlier this year there was a shortage of consultants and the service was moved temporarily to the Princess Royal. Since then, however, better results have been coming by having these services based at one site.

"Despite the extra time taken by some people especially from the Mid Wales direction to get to Telford, more people are being given a vital CT scan within an hour with all the services on one site.

"How we move forward will now be discussed in the coming month, but there are three options on the table. They are: going back to two separate sites, having a single site at the Princess Royal or having a single site at the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital.

"There is the argument that there is two CT scanners at the Royal Shrewsbury compared to one in Telford, but in Shrewsbury they are used a lot for cancer patients."

Dr John Morgan, chairman of the Montgomeryshire CHC, said it was vital that people who had suffered a stroke are assessed by a CT scanner as soon as possible.

He said: "If you have a stroke you need to be at a hospital as soon as possible and when you are there you need a CT scan of your brain as soon as possible. The debate now is if you have it on one site, where is it better located?"

Last month, it was confirmed that acute stroke patients would not be seen at Shrewsbury until a review was carried out.

Meanwhile, it emerged today that moving stroke services away from Shrewsbury has stretched ambulance services in the county even further through rising journey times.

• See also: Shropshire hospitals on 'high risk' list over care concerns