'I had a stroke at the weekend so didn't get a thrombectomy'

When Phil Woodford had a stroke in 2016 it was a Sunday.

He said the simple fact it was the weekend meant he missed out on a "life-altering treatment".

At the time Royal Preston Hospital (RPH) did not offer 24/7 thrombectomies- surgery which removes a blood clot or drains fluid from a blocked blood vessel in the brain.

Ten years on, and RPH started to offer round-the-clock thrombectomies from February this year, and the NHS said it continued to "expand thrombectomy services for those eligible".

But Woodford, now 55, was left with significant disability, including reduced movement, permanent pain and fatigue and had to take early retirement.

"I'll never know for sure but I am confident if I'd had a thrombectomy, I wouldn't have been forced to retire due to the extent of disability I had been left with," he said.

He said he was pleased that a decade after his own stroke Preston had now begun to offer the 24/7 service, but he still felt perplexed that thrombectomies were still not "widely available" at all hours across the country.

The north-west of England is one of few regions which now has round-the-clock thrombectomies on offer.

But the Stroke Association said across the UK there were still "stark inequalities" in access, which meant "some stroke patients are left facing a life of disability when others are not".

The charity said getting the treatment in the hours after stroke symptoms start could save a person's life or reduce the risk of life-long disability as it reduces brain damage caused by a clot.

Its own analysis suggests that in the three months from October to December last year, 1,222 patients missed out on a thrombectomy.

Of the 24 specialist neuroscience centres across England, only 17 currently deliver a thrombectomy regardless of the day or time, it added.

Prof Deb Lowe, the charity's medical director, said thousands of survivors could be "living very different lives from the realities they now face" if they had received a thrombectomy.

"They could potentially work, live independently, easily hold a conversation, and simply enjoy a sense of normality. Instead, they may not be able to even leave the house without help," she said.

Woodford, who is campaigning for 24/7 thrombectomy access to be made available for everyone across the UK, told BBC Radio Lancashire while there were "positives" that in Preston "we have this service 24-7 since February", he said it was "still frustratingly not as widely available as it needs to be".

"People can obviously be unwell at any time of the day or week, so it makes no sense to not offer such a vital service around the clock, too," he said.

Lowe said "gaps in the stroke workforce" was a major factor, as was "targeted funding", prioritisation, as well as "timing delays due to ambulance response times or hospital handovers".

"We can – and must – do better," Lowe added.

An NHS England spokesperson said: "The NHS continues to expand thrombectomy services for those eligible, with more stroke patients receiving it each year."

However, they said it was "not the right course of treatment for all", adding that new clot-busting treatments were also helping to improve patient care and reduce the need for more invasive procedures.

"Over eight in 10 now have access to 24/7 thrombectomy centres, with remaining sites opening in the coming months, and we're investing an extra £14m to further expand services, and training additional staff to carry out mechanical thrombectomy," they said.

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