What changes are we proposing
NHS Somerset is committed to understanding the needs of the local population. This is to ensure we can continue to deliver the best possible healthcare services in Somerset.
An evaluation process by clinicians, staff, people with lived experience and community and voluntary sector organisations, identified two potential options for the future configuration of acute hospital based services in Somerset.
| Option A | Option B |
| A single hyper acute stroke unit at Musgrove Park Hospital, Taunton | |
| An acute stroke unit at both Musgrove Park Hospital and Yeovil District Hospital. | A single acute stroke unit at Musgrove Park Hospital, Taunton. |
Both options would create one centralised hyper acute stroke unit in Somerset at Musgrove Park Hospital, Taunton.
This means most people in Somerset would receive their first 72 hours of stroke care at Musgrove Park Hospital. People who live closer to hyper acute stroke units out of Somerset would be taken to their closest unit, for example at Dorset County Hospital, Dorchester.
Under option A: A single hyper acute stroke unit at Musgrove Park Hospital, Taunton and an acute stroke unit at both Musgrove Park and Yeovil District Hospital.
- Musgrove Park Hospital, Taunton would continue to provide hyper acute stroke care, as it does now.
- Patients would be taken to their nearest hyper acute stroke unit, this could be out of Somerset if it was closer to you, such as Dorset County Hospital, Dorchester.
- Yeovil District Hospital would no longer provide hyper acute stroke care but would continue to provide acute stroke care.
- This means that patients who receive their hyper acute stroke care at another hospital outside of Somerset or in Taunton and live nearer to Yeovil, could have their next stage of treatment in Yeovil if this was closer to home.
Under option B: A single hyper acute stroke unit and a single acute stroke unit at Musgrove Park Hospital, Taunton.
- Musgrove Park Hospital, Taunton would continue to provide hyper acute stroke care and acute stroke care, as it does now.
- Yeovil District Hospital would no longer provide hyper acute stroke care or acute stroke care.
- Patients would be taken to their nearest hyper acute stroke unit, this could be out of Somerset if it was closer to you, such as Dorset County Hospital, Dorchester.
- Patients would have their acute stroke care at the same hospital as their hyper acute stroke care, for example Somerset patients at Dorset County Hospital would continue to have their acute stroke care at Dorset County Hospital.
We are not reducing the number of beds as part of this review. Under both options we would need to increase the number of hyper acute stroke beds at Musgrove Park Hospital.
Read some examples of what the changes would look like for patients.
Public consultation gives people the opportunity to provide their views before any decisions are taken. We want to hear from you to understand what the potential benefits and impacts are to our proposals from a range of perspectives.
