I’m no longer an NHSE director but I’ve not finished trying to improve care

 Well, I consider you a complete failure since you are talking 'care' NOT RECOVERY! I have never heard any survivor ask for 'care'?  They all want full recovery, unless you've bamboozled them with your tyranny of low expectations! Leaders tackle the hard problems under their preview, you are obviously NOT a leader!

I’m no longer an NHSE director but I’ve not finished trying to improve care

Thrombectomy transforms stroke recovery, yet limited access and regional gaps mean many UK patients still miss this vital, disability-preventing treatment, writes Professor Sir Steve Powis

Every day in the UK, 240 people of all ages have a stroke. It is the UK’s fourth leading cause of death and, as the country’s leading cause of complex adult disability, it can also leave survivors with difficulties walking, speaking, seeing, or swallowing, as well as poor mental health.

In 2009, the first thrombectomy was carried out in the UK, and for a decade, there has been national guidance supporting its implementation. It is one of the most effective treatments in modern medicine and, by removing the blood clot which caused the stroke, is a brain-saving treatment which can be performed within minutes. It has revolutionised emergency stroke treatment, giving thousands of stroke survivors the chance to leave the hospital walking instead of in a wheelchair.

Yet only 4.4 per cent of eligible patients in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland had a thrombectomy last year – by way of comparison, the NHS England target is 10 per cent. The 4.4 per cent average also masks huge regional variation – in the East of England, only 1.1 per cent of patients had a thrombectomy, but in London, 10.3 per cent of stroke patients had this treatment.

Twenty-four neuroscience centres provide thrombectomy across England, and another two thrombectomy centres should be up and running in the next year. But only 15 out of these 24 centres currently offer 24/7 access to thrombectomy, and many other centres don’t treat every eligible patient, either. Acute stroke treatment and thrombectomy are incredibly time-sensitive, most effective within six hours of onset of stroke.

While some patients could have treatment outside of this window, it’s likely to be much less effective. So, if someone has a stroke in the evening or at the weekend in some parts of the country, they may miss the opportunity to have a thrombectomy and therefore live with life-changing consequences.