A SPECIAL place that works magic - that is the view of ex-patients and families who are outraged at the threat hanging over a specialist rehab unit in the New Forest.

As reported in the Daily Echo, health bosses are considering moving the stroke, multiple sclerosis and neurological rehabilitation unit, currently based in Snowdon House at Ashurst Hospital, to Southampton.

They have confirmed that they are in talks with staff and patients about the future of Snowdon House and say that any major planned changes will go out to public consultation.

However families and ex-patients say that this valuable facility must stay put.

Councillor Tony Gentle, a former mayor of Test Valley, spent three months in the unit following a stroke in 2002.

"Within just three months they had me walking, talking, breathing and an active councillor," he said. "The people there are absolutely brilliant and it is a wonderful relaxed environment. It would be terrible if it was moved."

Sarah Smith's husband Paul spent three months in South-ampton General Hospital before being transferred to Snowdon House.

Brick wall

"Paul had spent three months on his back in a ward, with only curtains for privacy, staring at a brick wall which was the view out of his window," said Mrs Smith, of Cornwall.

"On arriving at Snowdon House he was placed in his own private room with a view out on to a landscaped garden backed up with views across open Forest. I cannot stress enough what a difference the location and layout of this facility made to my husband's rehab.

"It seems that once again the NHS is looking at the pounds and pence rather than the welfare and rehabilitation of the patients."

Jane Warner's husband was set for a 12-month stay in Snowdon House after a serious stroke at the age of 52. She said: "The staff of Snowdon House worked their magic and within three months he left, able to walk unaided, talk clearly and with the confidence to face the outside world."

The service at Snowdon House is run by Southampton City Primary Care Trust but the building belongs to New Forest Primary Care Trust, which has pledged that some form of clinical services will remain on the site if the rehab unit is moved.

The unit has already been hit by cutbacks - five beds were closed last year, leaving ten open.