Totally wrong focus. The focus should be on how well they provide recovery/results. 'Care' means nothing. They should be raked over the coals for lack of protocols that lead to 100% recovery.
NHS chiefs accused of 'undermining hospital by stealth' as fears are raised over stroke care plans
Councillors have raised
concerns about proposed changes to stroke care in County Durham,
including worries about transport for families travelling from Weardale
and Teesdale
The proposals, which are due to go out to public consultation later this year, would see immediate stroke care and subsequent in-patient rehab brought under one roof at University Hospital of North Durham (UHND).
But the move of rehabilitation services from Bishop Auckland to Durham has raised eyebrows among council bosses already concerned about other changes suggested at Bishop Auckland Hospital.
"The problem for me is that I don't believe UHND has the capacity to absorb this without other detrimental effects," said Coun Owen Temple, of Durham County Council (DCC).
"If you shorten stays you increase the risk that people will have to be recalled.
"I see nothing here that would actually give the people of Bishop Auckland a sense that their hospital was not being undermined by stealth.
"We've heard very clearly that that is what people feel and I have serious reservations, although I also completely accept the logic that treating people in a single setting is clinically right."
Liberal Democrat Coun Temple was speaking at last week's Adults, Wellbeing and Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee meeting, which also heard details of proposed changes to Bishop Auckland Hospital's ward six, which was briefly threatened with closure last year.
Coun Temple admitted the change could improve access to stroke care for his own constituents in the council's Consett North ward, but that he had concerns about the "greater whole" of care bosses' plans.
Labour's Heather Smith said the stroke proposals went "against the principle of providing care closer to home" and criticised the prospect of "difficult and expensive" transport for families travelling from Teesdale and Weardale.
Health chiefs told the panel the changes would improve the quality of stroke care on offer in the county and reduced the amount of time patients spend in hospital.
Stroke consultant Dr Gemma Smith said: "What we're asking is to move the patients to the therapists so the patients don't have to wait for therapy.
"The staffing exists, we just have to use it in a smarter way."
Public consultation on stroke care in County Durham is due to run for 10 weeks from October 7.
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