Steve Powis, National Medical Director of NHS England, and David Hargroves, National Clinical Director for Stroke, visited Queen’s Hospital to hear how we’re working with partners to improve access to mechanical thrombectomy for patients across north east London.

Mechanical thrombectomy is an emergency, minimally invasive, image-guided procedure to remove blood clots from the brain using wires and catheters to get to the clot, then specialist devices to remove it.

It can have a huge effect on improving the prognosis for stroke patients, preventing lifelong disabilities such as paralysis, including saving Loren Dixon from locked-in syndrome, and aiding the recovery of sports-mad Joseph.

During their visit, Steve and David heard how we’re working hard to enhance our team by further recruiting staff with the right skills mix, and planning to offer specialist training in this area.

They were also shown the journey of a stroke patient from A&E (pictured above: our stroke consultant, Devesh Sinha and Steve in A&E), through to the theatres where the thrombectomies are carried out (pictured below: Tufail Patankar, consultant interventional neuroradiologist, speaking to Stephen Harden (middle), Royal College of Radiologists, and David), to our rehabilitiation department.

Steve said: “It was fantastic to see the great work underway at Queen’s Hospital for stroke patients. I was pleased to hear of plans to strengthen the service.”

David added: “There is amazing collaboration across the disciplines, helping to deliver the best patient care.”

Also present at the visit were Juliet Bouverie, Chief Executive of the Stroke Association, and Stephen Harden, Vice President of the Royal College of Radiologists.

Other work taking place across our Trust to improve care for stroke patients includes our Stroke Prevention Hub, which has been shortlisted in the HSJ Digital awards.

Pictured top is (l-r): Juliet Bouverie, Stroke Association, Mamta Shetty Vaidy, Our Chief Medical Officer, Fiona Wheeler, Chief Operating Officer, Steve Powis, national medical director, NHSE, David Hargroves, National Clinical Director for Stroke, and Stephen Harden, Royal College of Radiologists.