First Minister pressed on reintroduction of procedure for stroke patients

Stroke doctors say thrombectomy surgery reduces disability and improves recovery chances, but the procedure was withdrawn in Scotland last year despite being available in other parts of the UK.

Scottish stroke doctors wrote to the Government earlier this week calling for the operation to be available in Scotland again.

At First Minister’s Questions on Thursday, Nicola Sturgeon was asked about the Government’s response to the plea by Conservative MSP Miles Briggs.

He said: “As it stands, Scotland has no thrombectomy services whatsoever – NHS Lothian having withdrawn that service last year.”

Ms Sturgeon said an advisory group is working on a plan to reintroduce the operation, and added: “We recognise it can significantly improve outcomes and quality of life for people who’ve suffered an ischemic stroke.”

Asked whether she would guarantee stroke victims in Scotland will be able to receive a thrombectomy this year, Ms Sturgeon was unable to give a date for when the operation could be reintroduced but said: “What we are working towards is the provision of a service.

“This is a relatively new clinical intervention and to ensure services are safe and they deliver high quality to patients, that the proper planning is undertaken.

“The advisory group have produced a national planning framework that will provide the basis for developing a framework in Scotland and that framework will be presented to the national planning board this month, and at that point we will be able to take decisions about how we are then going to roll that out.

“That is something the Health Secretary will keep the chamber fully updated on.”

The letter mentioned at FMQs was written by the Chest Heart & Stroke Scotland (CHSS) charity and was signed by 25 doctors who urged the Scottish Government to fund the surgery and set out a timetable for the procedure to be brought back.

CHSS estimates the annual cost of treating the 600 patients who could benefit from the procedure would be between £7.5 million and £10 million, but it argues there would be savings from the reduced need for complex hospital care.

The charity’s chief executive Jane-Claire Judson said: “It is vital that a thrombectomy service is up and running in 2019.

“Too many stroke patients have already been denied this life-changing treatment. They can’t wait any longer.

“The reality is that right now people with stroke across Scotland are missing out on their best chance of recovery simply because they live north of the border.

“That is the worst kind of situation for both doctors and their patients.

“This is taking longer than patients would expect and every delay will have real consequences on people’s lives.”

Health Secretary Jeane Freeman said: “I want us to be able to offer this service in appropriate sites across Scotland.

“I asked for the work of the directors of planning looking at that to be brought forward so we have a conclusion from them in January, at which point we will be able to make some decisions about how we are then going to roll that out.”