Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what comparative assessment his Department has made of Southport’s stroke services to others in its region; and what steps his Department is taking to help improve stroke services in Southport.

NHS Cheshire and Merseyside Integrated Care Board has assessed stroke services in the North Mersey area, including Southport. It has assessed that stroke services within the region do not currently meet best practice guidelines for providing the highest quality care or maximise the effectiveness of the specialist stroke workforce.

On 4 August 2022, a proposal for a comprehensive stroke centre on the Aintree Hospital site was approved, to be located with specialist services provided by the Walton Centre and post 72 hours care provided at either Aintree, Broadgreen or Southport. This clinically-led service has been developed over the last five years and is based on national evidence for improved outcomes for patients when hyper acute stroke services are centralised.

Additional investment is also planned for Southport and Ormskirk hospital to care for stroke patients who do not need to travel to Aintree Hospital or who return to their local hospital after receiving hyper-acute stroke treatment at Aintree.