No closing times for strokes

Ever been in a hospital over a weekend? Hospitals are famous for making people show up before dawn during weekdays for a medical procedure so they can sit and wait for hours - and virtually shutting down on Saturdays and Sundays.

Now, from England, is a story on how an elderly man was turned away from King’s Mill Hospital because stroke unit shut at 6 p.m.:

Elderly stroke victim John Mallalieu was turned away by a Nottinghamshire hospital because it was too late on a Friday afternoon.

The ambulance carrying the 89-year-old from Caunton to King’s Mill Hospital in Sutton-in-Ashfield was diverted to City Hospital in Nottingham, where he remains in intensive care.

The incident was a timely reminder of the additional problems facing patients who need attention at weekends.

Did this patient choose to have a stroke so close to 6 p.m.? Certainly not.