Youth council have their say

Members of the Rochdale Youth Council have been sharing their views on proposed changes to heart and stroke services.

The young people, aged between 12 and 18-years-old, were asked to take part in the Healthy Futures consultation planned changes.

They took part in a workshop and were asked to consider what they thought would be the best options for planned cardiology and stroke rehabilitation.

The proposal for planned cardiology is that complicated and high risk procedures should be moved from the Silver Heart Unit at Rochdale Infirmary to Fairfield General Hospital in Bury where essential support services such as intensive care are available.

The stroke options include having all stroke rehabilitation services at Fairfield General Hospital and also a ‘step-down’ non-urgent community inpatient facility for ongoing rehabilitation in Rochdale.

The young people concluded that the best option for the Silver Heart Unit would be to relocate at Fairfield General Hospital, but with the stipulation that consideration would need to be given to visitors having to travel further to visit family members and friends.
The stroke proposals divided the group and the council members were split as to which was their preferred option.

Established eight years ago, the council has approximately 40 members and has received training around public consultations.

James Bannon, 17, the Deputy Member of UK Youth Parliament for Rochdale and a student at Rochdale Sixth Form College, said: “We were honoured to take part in this consultation and have a say in the issues that may affect us, our families and friends.”

The event was part of the Healthy Futures programme of engagement re NHS redesign and is specifically related to planned cardiology and stroke rehabilitation.

The Youth Council’s thoughts and views will be collated alongside others gathered throughout the consultation and will inform the final decision.

The formal consultation process around the changes concludes tomorrow (14 January). The closing date for the return of questionnaires is 28 January.