THE consolidation of Worcestershire's stroke rehabilitation beds will not affect outpatient appointments, Worcestershire Health and Care NHS Trust has confirmed.

The trust's decision to move the eight specialist beds at Bromsgrove's Princess of Wales Community Hospital to Evesham Community Hospital featured on the front page of this week's Advertiser.

The plans, which will also see eight beds at Worcester's Timberdine Community Unit moved to Evesham, are set to go ahead in April, but will only affect inpatient rehab services.

A spokesman for the hospital trust said: "Patients can require a rehab bed after receiving their immediate treatment at the Acute Stroke Unit, if they aren’t ready to go home.

"The move to consolidate all the beds to Evesham is necessary as its becoming increasingly difficult to secure the required consultant cover to manage all three sites effectively. Consolidating at Evesham will make the service more stable, and therefore will provide a more effective all round inpatient service to people who need a rehab bed following a stroke.

"Outpatient appointments, for example if someone requires a physio or another therapy session as part of their longer-term recovery and rehabilitation, are unaffected and patients can still be referred to and access this at their local community hospital, including at The Princess of Wales.”