PLANS for increased visiting times are being developed as part of changes to centralise all specialist rehabilitation care for those recovering from a stroke at Evesham community hospital.
At the end of 2016 Worcestershire Health and Care NHS Trust and the three local clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) put together a proposal to consolidate the county’s specialist stroke rehab beds in Evesham rather than also at the Princess of Wales in Bromsgrove and in Worcester.
This would mean all patients across the county who needed a specialist rehab bed post stroke would be admitted to Evesham. The total number of beds, 32 in all, will be maintained.
Last Wednesday (February 8) the board of Worcestershire Health and Care NHS Trust approved those proposals but following discussions and engagement with patients and families, it has also committed to developing ideas and changes which could make it easier for those who, as part of the plans, will be required to travel to Evesham from other parts of the county.
This includes increasing visiting times for families, support with identifying public transport options, investigating digital options and the support of hospital volunteers in helping patients stay in touch with family while on the ward.
The plans to consolidate the specialise stroke rehab beds at Evesham Community Hospital in full will come into effect in early April but Evesham will start taking more new admissions from the middle of this week.
