DECIDING on a single location for treating stroke patients across County Durham was never going to be a popular decision.

Passions are running high about the preferred location for a specialist stroke unit to be centralised in Durham City at the expense of Darlington.

The representatives of the people of Darlington were right to challenge the legitimacy of the evidence to support Durham’s case.

The Northern Echo also made it clear that the decision had to be taken on the basis of robust data so the right outcome would be reached. At the time, there was genuine concern in Darlington that the statistics had been skewed in Durham City’s favour.

However, the medical experts agreed: keeping the status quo was not an option.

The evidence has been re-examined and the Durham site has won out. A clear decision has been taken and we have to get on with it. What is most important now is that stroke patients in County Durham and Darlington now receive a better service.

Dr Mike Lavender, chairman of the Primary Care Trust’s Stroke Group, said yesterday that no one should spend longer than 50 minutes in an ambulance before they reached the Durham stroke unit. Stephen Eames, chief executive of the County Durham and Darlington hospital trust, said the decision meant the unit would meet 100 per cent of national stroke care guidelines rather than the current 65 per cent. The Northern Echo will hold them to both promises.