Campaigners ‘determined’ to see coastal stroke services restored

​Councillors and the MP for Scarborough and Whitby have hit out at an “incorrect” Government response to a petition calling for stroke services at Scarborough Hospital to be restored.

​Alison Hume MP, who represents Scarborough and Whitby, said there was “only one word to describe my feeling about my campaign at the moment, and that’s frustration”.

​Last year, as part of the campaign, a petition was submitted to the Department of Health to “once again provide specialist emergency assessment, investigation, treatment and care for patients who are potentially suffering from, or have suffered from, an acute stroke”.

​In response, a health minister at the time said: “There have been no direct stroke admissions to Scarborough Hospital since 2015.

​“A limited ‘assess and transfer’ model operated between 2015 and 2020 but was found to be clinically unsustainable and inconsistent with the approved national model for hyper acute stroke units.”

​At a recent meeting of the Scarborough and Whitby Area Committee, Cllr Rich Maw said: “The government’s response to your stroke petition effectively endorsed the current stroke service configuration and rejected the case for restoring acute stroke provision at Scarborough.”

Yorkshire Ambulance Service. Courtesy Anttoni Numminen.

​Quizzing the MP, he added: “I’ve heard that you are holding a debate and you are pressing to encourage a thrombectomy service in North Yorkshire.

​“But what evidence do you believe could realistically persuade ministers or NHS decision-makers to reconsider this decision?”

​Ms Hume called for a review of current stroke strategy “because it doesn’t cover the needs of rural and coastal communities”.

​Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS), the Labour MP said the “next step is applying for a debate on why Yorkshire and the Humber don’t have access to 24/7 elective services, so that’s the first thing I’m doing”.

York Hospital. Courtesy Numminen/LDRS

​Speaking after the meeting, she added: “Then I’m applying for a wider debate on stroke services in coastal communities, and that one should be a longer debate in which I hope we’ll get support from MPs, not just in Yorkshire and the Humber, but across the country, because we all have similar issues.

​“Our constituents are miles and miles away from stroke services, and I’m absolutely determined, given that we’ve got a brand-new A&E at Scarborough, that we could be doing the initial scans there.”