Weekend wait for stroke patients

Reporter: BEATRIZ AYALA
Date online: 05/02/2010

Brain scan times can double

STROKE patients in Oldham are being forced to wait twice as long for brain scans on weekends than weekdays, according to a new report.

The National Audit Office report revealed many patients across the country were not given a brain scan quickly enough, with access on evenings and weekends significantly more limited.

At the Royal Oldham Hospital, which is part of the Pennine Acute Trust, the maximum average weekday wait for a CT scan was 24 hours.

Waiting times rose to a maximum average of 48 hours at weekends.

NHS Oldham, which runs health services in the town, commissions stroke services from the Pennine Acute Trust, which runs hospitals in Oldham, Rochdale, North Manchester and Bury.

The report said the Royal Oldham Hospital has a combined stroke unit with specialist staff, rather than a specialist acute stroke unit.

Unlike other hospitals in the trust, the Royal Oldham does not have an on-site thrombolysis service, which offers clot-busting drugs to prevent brain damage.

The report also found that in 2008, only 17 per cent of patients across the country were admitted to a specialist stroke unit within four hours of arriving at hospital.

Alan Higgins, director of public health for Oldham, said: “We are very keen to ensure a high quality of health care provision for people with stroke in Oldham.

“NHS Oldham is working closely with the Pennine Acute Hospitals Trust to accelerate the improvement in the quality of care at the Royal Oldham Hospital. We are now seeing the results of this work, with more than 70 per cent of patients getting a CT scan within 24 hours of admission and more than 90 per cent of stroke patients are assessed by a physiotherapist within 72 hours and 80 per cent by an occupational therapist within four days from admission.

“We are monitoring access to scans and admissions to the stroke unit at the Royal Oldham Hospital.

“In addition we are working with partners across Greater Manchester to ensure access to life saving thrombolysis treatment within four hours of the onset of symptoms.

“This will continue to be a priority.”