The petition of residents of the constituency of Yeovil,
Declares that Yeovil District Hospital’s hyper-acute stroke unit (HASU) should not be closed without the move being clearly supported by a local evidence base, particularly in relation to travel times to HASUs in alternative hospitals.
The petitioners therefore request that the House of Commons urge the Government to review the planned closure of Yeovil District Hospital’s hyper-acute stroke unit and ensure that the plans do not proceed until a comprehensive evidence base has been established regarding the impact of the proposed alternative arrangements on local residents.
And the petitioners remain, etc.—[Presented by Adam Dance, Official Report, 23 March 2026; Vol. 783, c. 114 .]
[P003175]
Observations from the Minister for Secondary Care (Karin Smyth):
The appropriate NHS commissioner is responsible for delivery, implementation, and funding decisions for local NHS services—in this case, Somerset integrated care board—rather than the Government. The Government believe that local health and care organisations are best placed to make decisions on commissioning services for their communities, working with local authorities, stakeholders, and local populations to meet people’s needs.
The Government note that there continue to be concerns about Somerset ICB’s proposed changes to Yeovil district hospital’s hyper-acute stroke unit. Following requests for the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care to use the powers granted under schedule 10A to the NHS Act 2006 to call in the ICB’s decision, the Secretary of State carefully considered the issue. This involved considering the process followed by Somerset ICB and whether or not the proposal would be in the best interests of the health service in the area. In December 2024, the Secretary of State decided against ministerial intervention. In September and November 2025, the Secretary of State also considered requests to reconsider the decision and decided that there had been no changes in circumstances that would materially affect his original decision not to call in the proposal.
The Government maintain that any changes to services should be informed by clinical best practice following appropriate engagement with patients and stakeholders. Substantial planned service change and reconfiguration of services are subject to a public consultation and must meet the Government and NHS England’s tests to ensure good decision making and that proposals are demonstrated to be in the interests of service users and the wider public.
The Government recognise the importance of high-quality stroke services. The national stroke service model and the national service model for an integrated community stroke service set out an evidenced-based pathway for joined-up stroke care throughout the patient journey. The NHS is also working to increase the delivery of thrombolysis and thrombectomy rates as a key intervention to support improved patient outcomes. The latest data for the first quarter of 2025-26 shows the proportion of patients that have gained access to a stroke unit within four hours has risen to 51.3% from 47.7% in 2024-25.
In addition, the Government have committed to continuing to improve ambulance response times for category 2 incidents, which include strokes, from 30 to 25 minutes on average in 2026-27.