Asked by: Robert Neill (Conservative - Bromley and Chislehurst)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of interventional radiology services and thrombectomy services in trusts and health boards in 2021.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Individual National Health Service employers are responsible for ensuring the appropriate staff are trained and competent to undertake mechanical thrombectomy. A credential for mechanical thrombectomy has now been agreed with the General Medical Council to allow interventional radiologists, cardiologists, neurosurgeons and stroke physicians to be trained to deliver medical treatment for stroke.
From 2016 to 2021 there has been a 63% increase in entry points in clinical radiology specialty training places. As of July 2022, there were 5,040 full-time equivalent (FTE) doctors working in the NHS in England in the sub-specialism of clinical radiology, an increase of 5.7% since July 2021 and 55.4% since July 2010. This includes doctors in training grades, specialists and doctors on other contracts. The consultant clinical radiologist workforce has also increased by 4.3% since July 2021 and 53.7% since July 2010.
Asked by: Robert Neill (Conservative - Bromley and Chislehurst)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Answer of 20 December 2021 to Question 89536 on Mechanical Thrombectomy, if he will make an assessment of the implications for his policies of the number of whole time equivalent interventional neuroradiologists identified as practising in England in the Royal College of Radiologists Clinical radiology census report 2021.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Individual National Health Service employers are responsible for ensuring the appropriate staff are trained and competent to undertake mechanical thrombectomy. A credential for mechanical thrombectomy has now been agreed with the General Medical Council to allow interventional radiologists, cardiologists, neurosurgeons and stroke physicians to be trained to deliver medical treatment for stroke.
From 2016 to 2021 there has been a 63% increase in entry points in clinical radiology specialty training places. As of July 2022, there were 5,040 full-time equivalent (FTE) doctors working in the NHS in England in the sub-specialism of clinical radiology, an increase of 5.7% since July 2021 and 55.4% since July 2010. This includes doctors in training grades, specialists and doctors on other contracts. The consultant clinical radiologist workforce has also increased by 4.3% since July 2021 and 53.7% since July 2010.
Asked by: Robert Neill (Conservative - Bromley and Chislehurst)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether (a) his Department and (b) NHS England have held recent discussions with (i) neuroradiologists and (ii) other professionals involved in thrombectomy services on the development of a stoke workforce plan.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
A credential for mechanical thrombectomy has now been agreed with the General Medical Council to allow interventional radiologists, cardiologists, neurosurgeons and stroke physicians to be trained to deliver medical treatment for stroke. From 2016 to 2021 there has been a 63% increase in entry points in clinical radiology specialty training places.
Asked by: Robert Neill (Conservative - Bromley and Chislehurst)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to invest in the interventional neuroradiology workforce to help the treatment medical conditions such as stroke.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
A credential for mechanical thrombectomy has now been agreed with the General Medical Council to allow interventional radiologists, cardiologists, neurosurgeons and stroke physicians to be trained to deliver medical treatment for stroke. From 2016 to 2021 there has been a 63% increase in entry points in clinical radiology specialty training places.
Asked by: Robert Neill (Conservative - Bromley and Chislehurst)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the NHS Long Term Plan, what recent progress his Department has made towards (a) the target for 10 per cent of stroke patients to receive a mechanical thrombectomy and (b) other targets within that plan for stroke care.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Thrombectomy is available in 24 centres in England and two non-neuroscience centres are currently under development. The latest available data shows that 3.1% of patients are receiving a thrombectomy following a stroke. The Sentinel Stroke National Audit Programme reported that between April 2021 and March 2022, 75% of patients spent at least 90% of their hospital stay on a specialist stroke unit.
Asked by: Robert Neill (Conservative - Bromley and Chislehurst)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the impact of average ambulance response times in 2022 on (a) stroke survival rates, (b) rates of permanent disability following a stroke and (c) timely access to mechanical thrombectomy for stroke patients.
Answered by Will Quince
Category 2 calls are ‘emergency’ calls, including serious time-sensitive incidents such as strokes and heart attacks.
There is evidence that mechanical thrombectomy performed within six hours of the onset of symptoms can reduce brain damage and prevent or limit long-term disability. NHS England has allocated an additional £150 million for ambulance services in 2022/23, supporting improvements to response times through additional call handler recruitment, retention and other funding requirements.
NHS England is implementing video triage in ambulances for stroke patients. This provides a video consultation from home or in an ambulance with a hospital-based stroke clinician to advise paramedics on the appropriate action for the patient, such as thrombectomy or the relevant hospital for treatment.
Asked by: Robert Neill (Conservative - Bromley and Chislehurst)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has to ensure hospitals offer 24/7 access to interventional radiology services.
Answered by Will Quince
In England, 34 National Health Service acute trusts currently provide 24 hours a day, seven days a week access to interventional radiology (IR) services. Where necessary, patients are diverted to trusts which deliver these services. National IR services are supported by an imaging network, which will develop alongside services as provision increases.
Asked by: Robert Neill (Conservative - Bromley and Chislehurst)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Answer of 20 December 2021 to Question 89536 on Mechanical Thrombectomy, how many of the 150 whole time equivalent interventional neuroradiologists required to deliver resilient and sustainable thrombectomy services have been recruited since 20 December 2021.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The information requested is not held centrally.
Asked by: Robert Neill (Conservative - Bromley and Chislehurst)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much capital investment funding has been allocated to expanding mechanical thrombectomy services in each of the last 5 years.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The information requested is not held centrally.
Asked by: Robert Neill (Conservative - Bromley and Chislehurst)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Royal College of Radiologists’ Clinical radiology census report 2021, what assessment he has made of the conclusion that 55 per cent of clinical directors reported that they do not have enough interventional radiologists to deliver safe and effective patient care.
Answered by Will Quince
No specific assessment has been made. Individual employers are responsible for ensuring the appropriate staff are available and trained to undertake their duties. There has been an increase of 63% in entry points in clinical radiology specialty training places from 2016 to 2021. In addition, through the Spending Review there has been an increase in funding for ST6 year for interventional radiologists for 20 places in 2021/22 and 2022/23.
As of July 2022, there were 5,040 full-time equivalent (FTE) doctors working in the National Health Service in England in the sub-specialism of clinical radiology. This is an increase of 5.7% since July 2021 and 55.4% since July 2010 and includes doctors in training grades, specialists and doctors on other contracts. The consultant clinical radiologist workforce has increased by 4.3% since July 2021 and 53.7% since July 2010. Health Education England is implementing the priorities identified in the cancer workforce plan phase 1 and is investing an additional £50 million in 2022/23 to expand the cancer and diagnostics workforce, including postgraduate medical training of cancer-related medical professions, such as interventional radiologists.