NHS denies fears home visits could replace stroke recovery units at new health hub

St Peter’s Hospital, on Spital Road, which offers beds for stroke patients as well as maternity services, could be replaced by a bed-free health centre.

Concerns have been raised about the Home First service, which some fear is earmarked to care for stroke patients in place of the recovery beds.

David Wilkin, chairman of Longfield patient reference group and a Maldon Health Hub stakeholder, said: “The trouble is we know nothing about Home First. It is very much in its infancy.

“It is difficult to predict the impact this will have on patients because we simply do not know what the changes really are. I accept there has to be a change because the NHS is short of money, but my opposition is we have to really investigate how we are doing things. They have to provide us with answers as to how it works.”

Maldon has a higher stroke risk than the national average and an ageing population.

The Mid Essex Clinical Commissioning Group, which is working to provide the health centre, says the evidence for a bed-free hub stems from conversations with patients and a patient steer.

Mr Wilkin believes this is insufficient. He said: “Ask any patient in hospital if they would prefer to be at home and we can guess the response — but this does not constitute forming a police for a hub without beds.

“The patient steer that people would prefer to be treated at home is unattributed, unsubstantiated and anonymous.

“It lies in complete contrast to attributable data from our patient groups which voted unanimously we retain beds.”

A spokesman for the clinical commissioning group said: "There is no intention to replace stroke recovery beds with home visits

"There is a conversation going on between key partners involved in this project regarding the beds at St Peter’s that are used for rehabilitation, as there is clinical evidence to show that patients recover quicker at home."