While welcoming the National Health Service (NHS) England plan to roll out emergency mechanical thrombectomy to hospitals across the country, the U.K. Royal College of Radiologists (RCR) has stressed the urgent need to recruit more interventional radiologists to perform the procedures.
The NHS gave no indication as to how the rollout of emergency mechanical thrombectomy might be achieved in practice, according to RCR President Dr. Nicola Strickland, noting that there is already a severe shortage of radiologists across the board in the country.
"Mechanical thrombectomy for stroke is an amazing, disability-sparing treatment in eligible patients," Strickland said in a statement. "We need the necessary investment in our workforce to make sure as many patients as possible can benefit from it."
The RCR also seeks increased recruitment of more diagnostic radiologists, who are essential for the expert interpretation of the scans of stroke patients early enough for mechanical thrombectomy to be effective, the college said.
