Health chiefs have denied claims from Darlington councillors that stroke patients are being taken to the wrong hospital
8:00am Monday 15th October 2012 in News By Barry Nelson, Health Editor
AMBULANCE officials have denied taking stroke patients to the wrong hospital.
Councillors from Darlington have called for talks with ambulance chiefs after complaints that some stroke patients are being taken by ambulance to Darlington Memorial Hospital rather than the new stroke unit at the University Hospital of North Durham, in Durham City.
It follows the closure of the stroke treatment unit in Darlington in January and the centralising of acute stroke treatment at the Durham City hospital.
The North East Ambulance Service (NEAS) told The Northern Echo that they were willing to meet councillors to discuss their concerns but said a check of their recent records showed no record of patients being taken to the wrong hospital in Darlington.
At a recent meeting of Darlington Borough Councils health scrutiny committee, Councillor Tony Richmond said councillors had heard horror stories of patients being dumped in Darlington
rather than being taken to the North Durham stroke unit.
Councillors on the committee are now happy about the way the new stroke unit is functioning, after initial fears that Darlington residents would be adversely affected.
Figures have shown that 89 per cent of stroke patients between January and July were taken to the North Durham unit by ambulance.
Read the original:
Questions over ambulance trips to stroke unit