Stroke care suffering at weekends

OLDHAM’S stroke services have no specialist consultants on site at the weekend — unless one happens to be on general on-call duty.

Even so stroke services chief Dr Khalil Kawafi says anyone who arrives at hospital within the vital four and a half hour period after a stroke will get the treatment they need.

Consultant physician Dr Kawafi said: “The reality is that there is a dip in provision over the weekend. Nevertheless, all our figures are above the national average.”

There is a move to create a seven-day service which, if approved, could be running by April, 2013. This would involve consolidating stroke services across Greater Manchester and offering a seven days a week, 24-hour service at one centre, probably Hope Hospital in Salford,. Others would offer specialist services from 7am-11pm every day.

Dr Kawafi heads a team of six stroke consultants and support staff who work across the Pennine Trust’s four hospitals.

He added: “The majority of patients I speak to are in favour of centralisation. They don’t mind travelling a few more miles if they know that when they get there they will get the best treatment possible.”


Dr Kawafi will speak at a public “Your Health/Your NHS” event on Thursday in the education centre at Fairfield Hospital, Bury, at 5pm, ahead of Pennine Acute Trust’s annual meeting.

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