A group of stroke victims has been fighting the proposal to move services to Durham. David Roberts joined them as they waited for the decision.

FOR two hours, members of Darlington Stroke Club waited for news from the meeting of County Durham and Darlington NHS Trust.

When the message came through that the decision had been taken to centralise services in Durham, there was no audible gasp, no exclamation of surprise, only a few raised eyebrows and a slight rise in the volume of angry muttering.

In truth, none of those gathered at the Age Concern building at Darlington’s Bradbury House expected any different.

Ask any member and each one would reply “it’s a done deal”. To them, the consultation process had been a sham.

However, that did not stop them fighting to overturn the proposal to move Darlington Memorial Hospital’s stroke unit to Durham.

Every Monday, the 15 members of the Stroke Club meet to discuss news, share information, take part in rehabilitation and enjoy each other’s company.

However, for the past few months, the club has also been the centre of a well-organised campaign that resulted in nearly 800 signatures against the proposal being presented to the NHS trust.

Their concern is not for themselves, but for future generations of stroke victims.

The first hour after a stroke is the most important time in terms of getting treatment – a fact they are only too aware of.

They say an increased journey time to Durham could have serious implications.

Sheila Adamson, one of the members, said: “We are in the lap of the gods. You do not get two strokes the same; it affects everybody differently.

“We have gone through it all. Our concern is for the ones who are still to come.”

Darlington Borough Council leader Bill Dixon said the views of people such as the stroke club members had not been taken sufficiently into account.

He said: “The trust say this has been assessed by experts, but we have our own experts here at the Stroke Club and it has not managed to convince them. I have had to drive from Durham to Darlington at 8am in the morning and it took me 53 minutes. I cannot see any ambulance doing it quicker.”

Ken Wood, another club member, said: “It is not just Darlington, it is people from North Yorkshire as well, places like Richmond and Northallerton. We are not going to give up yet though, we can’t leave it lying now.

We’ll still fight. We have to.”