Changes to stroke services implemented
- 17th May 2023
Changes to stroke services, designed and agreed through the Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire (BNSSG) Stroke Improvement Programme, are going live this week.
From 17 May 2023, all ambulances taking people in the region to hospital with a suspected stroke will go to a centre of excellence for stroke care at Southmead Hospital, with a small number being taken to the nearer Musgrove Park Hospital’s Hyper Acute Stroke Unit.
Improvements to stroke rehabilitation services at home and in South Bristol Community Hospital have already been made.
The Stroke Improvement Programme has nurtured an ongoing collaboration between Sirona Care and Health, North Bristol NHS Trust, University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust and Bristol Health Partners’ Stroke Health Integration Team (Stroke HIT). This will support a single stroke service operating across BNSSG, with equal access to services throughout the region, for years to come.
The Stroke HIT will continue to be integral to the ongoing improvement of services, making sure the voice of stroke survivors continues to be heard through its Lived Experience Group (formerly the Service User Group).
Read the BNSSG Healthier Together statement about the changes to stroke services
How the Stroke HIT helped shaped stroke services
Between 2017 and 2022, public and patient partners via the Stroke HIT, helped to influence these changes to ensure that they reflected the needs of people who had had a stroke, as well as their families and carers.
