PEOPLE living in Mid Devon are being encouraged to give their views on plans for a ten-bed specialist stroke rehabilitation unit for the area.

The public consultation exercise, which continues until Monday, November 1, will canvas opinions in a number of ways. People will be able to call a dedicated freephone number to register their views, or attend a series of public meetings.

The meetings are being held at six different venues, covering the whole area, including one at the Ockment Centre in Okehampton on Monday, September 13, between 2.30pm and 4pm.

Everyone is welcome to attend the meetings, particularly those who have experienced strokes, and their families.

Mid Devon Primary Care Trust chief executive, Lesley Dunaway said: ?Each year in Mid Devon, 300 people will suffer a stroke serious enough to require hospital admission.

?We feel it is very important to invest in this initiative, which we know will make a big difference to local people who experience a stroke.

?A stroke can have a devastating impact on someone?s life and recovery can be a long and difficult process. However, research shows that if people are cared for in a specialist unit, lives can be saved and serious lasting disability reduced.?

The proposed specialist stroke rehabilitation unit would most likely be based at Crediton Hospital. Under the initiative, stroke patients would first be referred to a consultant neurologist, based at the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital (RD&E) for investigation and diagnosis.

Anyone who needed to be admitted to hospital would spend about seven days in the RD&E acute stroke unit. Patients living in Mid Devon would then transfer to the community stroke unit for further specialist rehabilitation by team members, who would also manage their return home and follow-up care.

The primary care trust said it had thought hard about where the best place in Mid Devon would be for the centre and felt Crediton would be most appropriate because of its central location.

If the unit goes ahead, it will open next spring.

Anyone who would like to give their views on the proposal can contact the trust on freephone 0800 073 0792.

People can also comment in writing to Stroke Consultation, Mid Devon Primary Care Trust, Newcourt House, Old Rydon Lane, Exeter EX2 7JU. Alternatively, the email address is: [email protected]">[email protected]