HOSPITAL boss Val Bertenshaw is confident there will be a steady improvement in stroke services at the Royal Blackburn Hospital.

As revealed in the Lancashire Telegraph last week, the department has been placed in ‘special measures’ due to concerns about the higher than expected ‘death rate’ and repeated missed targets.

This comes as NHS chiefs prepare to launch a ‘review’ of stroke care across the North West, leaving the unit vulnerable to closure.

The department’s management has been overhauled in recent weeks after a key performance target was missed for every month this year – for 90 per cent of stroke patients to be admitted to a specialist ward within four hours of arrival.

But Mrs Bertenshaw, director of operations at East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust, noted there has been an improvement in the latest performance data, while department chiefs recently presented a ‘recovery plan’ to the board.

This could involve admitting stroke patients straight to the specialist ward, rather than going through the emergency department.