Health chiefs have denied claims from Darlington councillors that stroke patients are being taken 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 Council’s 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.

But Councillor Wendy Newell, who chairs the scrutiny committee, still wants to talk to NEAS chiefs about the small number of stroke patients taken to Darlington Memorial Hospital.

She said: “We are arranging a meeting with the NEAS to discuss our concerns. We want some reassurance that they have all the information they need to enable them to carry out their duties and that communications are good.”

A spokeswoman for the NEAS said: “We are happy to talk to councillors about any concerns they may have. If they have any examples I would encourage them to contact us.”

But she added: “A manual check of the most recent data available to NEAS shows no record of patients being taken to the wrong hospital in Darlington.”

She said County Durham hospital chiefs had commissioned NEAS to develop a new reporting mechanism which will record local data on stroke patients.

“This is expected to be completed and tested before Christmas, and should then be able to provide quarterly reports on local patient journeys,”

she added.