We, the undersigned, through this petition, wish to most strongly oppose the proposed closure of the Hyper-Acute Stroke unit and Acute Stroke Care facility at Yeovil District Hospital proposed by NHS Somerset following the merger of Yeovil District Hospital NHS Foundation Trust (YDH) and Somerset NHS Foundation Trust (SFT) to create a new trust called Somerset NHS Foundation Trust

It is widely recognised that the first 45 minutes after onset are crucial to recovery for a stroke patient. The additional time taken for patients, currently served by YDH, in transporting them to the Hyper-Acute Stroke unit at Musgrove in Taunton is likely to have significant detrimental consequences to their subsequent recovery.

In addition, if patients have to receive their continuing care at Musgrove from the Acute Stroke facility this will require (roundtrip) travel of almost 2 hours, for those with access to a car, or considerably longer if dependent on public transport and will significantly reduce the ability of family and loved ones to visit the patient. This is not an adequate service for the 180,000 residents who are dependent on YDH. Yeovil is an expanding town with considerable plans for further residential development and the reduction in the local health provision makes no sense.

We insist that Somerset NHS Foundation Trust reconsider and abort this planned removal of services and focus on continuing to maintain and improve Hyper-Acute and Acute Stroke care at both Musgrove Hospital and Yeovil District Hospital to ensure that adequate care is provided across Somerset, not just the Taunton area.

We also wish to voice our strong objection to any further removal of services from YDH following the merger of Yeovil District Hospital NHS Foundation Trust (YDH) and Somerset NHS Foundation Trust (SFT).