PFD report

Keith REYNOLDS · Prevention of Future Deaths report

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Issued 10 Sep 2025•Newcastle and North Tyneside

Report record

Published report and response evidence

This page connects the concerns raised in this report with statements found in recipients’ published responses. A link shows a clear evidence connection; it does not assign responsibility.

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Concerns
1

Raised in this report

Recipients
1

Named on the report

Responses found
1

Of 1 recipient

Stated actions
3

Described in responses

Recipients and published responses

Source document

Full report text

This is the full text from the original published report.

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Concerns and recipient responses

Select any concern, action or position to view the source wording.

Concerns raised1

  1. Unavailability of mechanical thrombectomy services outside 9.00am to 5.00pm
    Part of recurring concern: Insufficient regional capacity and mutual aid for time-critical specialist care
Responses linked to these concerns

Each statement is shown once, even when linked to more than one concern.

Actions described in response An action is something a recipient says it has done, is doing, or plans to do in response to a concern raised.3

  1. Action

    Implemented a joint interventional neuroradiologist rota with James Cook University Hospital, providing sufficient neuroradiologist capacity for 24/7 service delivery.

    Stated by the Newcastle Upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation TrustStated completedThe respondent said that this action was complete when they made their response on 19 September 2025.
  2. Action

    Established a multidisciplinary Mechanical Thrombectomy Steering Group to develop and oversee a plan for achieving 24/7 service provision.

    Stated by the Newcastle Upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation TrustStated completedThe respondent said that this action was complete when they made their response on 19 September 2025.
  3. Action

    Reviewed the clinical model and service costs, then submitted a revised 24/7 Mechanical Thrombectomy model and costing to NHS England.

    Stated by the Newcastle Upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation TrustStated completedThe respondent said that this action was complete when they made their response on 19 September 2025.

Respondent positions A position is what a recipient says about a concern when it does not describe a specific action.2

  1. Position

    Approval and funding for expanded mechanical thrombectomy services must be provided by NHS England and commissioners.

    Stated by the Newcastle Upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation TrustRedirects responsibilityThe respondent said that another organisation was responsible for deciding or taking action.

Source evidence

How this individual concern was interpreted

PFD Monitor created a concise, searchable interpretation from the report wording shown below. Response links show a clear evidence connection; they do not assign responsibility.

PFD Monitor interpretation

Unavailability of mechanical thrombectomy services outside 9.00am to 5.00pm

Wider context from the report

“(1) A mechanical thrombectomy service is not available in the region outside of 9.00am to 5.00pm due to insufficient neuroradiologists being available to run such a service. I am told that this issue is listed on the Newcastle Upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust's 'Risk Register' and that a business plan has been submitted to NHS England in relation to funding for additional clinicians. However, at the present time, should patients currently require a mechanical thrombectomy outside of the hours of 9.00am to 5.00pm, such a service would not be available to them and this could result in their death despite this potentially being preventable were such a service available. ”

Is this part of a recurring concern?

Yes — Insufficient regional capacity and mutual aid for time-critical specialist care.

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Source evidence

How this respondent action was interpreted

PFD Monitor created a concise, searchable interpretation from the published response wording shown below.

PFD Monitor interpretation

Implemented a joint interventional neuroradiologist rota with James Cook University Hospital, providing sufficient neuroradiologist capacity for 24/7 service delivery.

Verbatim wording from the response

“Current Position The Trust has an established MT Steering Group which includes senior representation from clinicians and operational managers within the neuroradiology, stroke medicine, and perioperative departments. The group meets monthly and has agreed a plan for achieving a 24/7 MT service at the RVI which would serve all patients in NENC. As we have agreed to implement a joint INR rota with colleagues at James Cook University Hospital, we currently have enough INRs in place to deliver this 24/7 service. As we would be more than doubling our operational hours and accepting additional stroke patients from other hospitals, we would need to recruit other clinical staff to support service expansion. The limiting factor to expansion is solely the approval of funding to support this recruitment.”

Source location

Response from Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Page 3 · response
Published 19 September 2025

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Source evidence

How this respondent action was interpreted

PFD Monitor created a concise, searchable interpretation from the published response wording shown below.

PFD Monitor interpretation

Established a multidisciplinary Mechanical Thrombectomy Steering Group to develop and oversee a plan for achieving 24/7 service provision.

Verbatim wording from the response

“Current Position The Trust has an established MT Steering Group which includes senior representation from clinicians and operational managers within the neuroradiology, stroke medicine, and perioperative departments. The group meets monthly and has agreed a plan for achieving a 24/7 MT service at the RVI which would serve all patients in NENC. As we have agreed to implement a joint INR rota with colleagues at James Cook University Hospital, we currently have enough INRs in place to deliver this 24/7 service. As we would be more than doubling our operational hours and accepting additional stroke patients from other hospitals, we would need to recruit other clinical staff to support service expansion. The limiting factor to expansion is solely the approval of funding to support this recruitment.”

Source location

Response from Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Page 3 · response
Published 19 September 2025

Open published response

Source evidence

How this respondent action was interpreted

PFD Monitor created a concise, searchable interpretation from the published response wording shown below.

PFD Monitor interpretation

Reviewed the clinical model and service costs, then submitted a revised 24/7 Mechanical Thrombectomy model and costing to NHS England.

Verbatim wording from the response

“Following this the commissioners requested that the Trust review their clinical model (working with Salford on this to look at their model) and to review the cost of service provision.”

Source location

Response from Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Page 3 · response
Published 19 September 2025

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Source evidence

How this respondent position was interpreted

PFD Monitor created a concise, searchable interpretation from the published response wording shown below.

PFD Monitor interpretation

Approval and funding for expanded mechanical thrombectomy services must be provided by NHS England and commissioners.

Verbatim wording from the response

“NHS England has emphasised that Trusts must operate within their allocated budget, such that additional services must be adequately funded by commissioners prior to approval. As of October 2025 we continue to await a response from the commissioners to our proposal for the Trust to expand to a 24/7 service. If we were to receive approval, we would envisage being able to implement an 8am to 8pm service within 6 weeks, with progression to a 24/7 service in the following 6 months.”

Source location

Response from Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Page 3 · response
Published 19 September 2025

Open published response

Source evidence

How this respondent position was interpreted

PFD Monitor created a concise, searchable interpretation from the published response wording shown below.

PFD Monitor interpretation

The Trust cannot expand mechanical thrombectomy to 24/7 without adequate funding to recruit additional clinical staff.

Verbatim wording from the response

“Current Position The Trust has an established MT Steering Group which includes senior representation from clinicians and operational managers within the neuroradiology, stroke medicine, and perioperative departments. The group meets monthly and has agreed a plan for achieving a 24/7 MT service at the RVI which would serve all patients in NENC. As we have agreed to implement a joint INR rota with colleagues at James Cook University Hospital, we currently have enough INRs in place to deliver this 24/7 service. As we would be more than doubling our operational hours and accepting additional stroke patients from other hospitals, we would need to recruit other clinical staff to support service expansion. The limiting factor to expansion is solely the approval of funding to support this recruitment.”

Source location

Response from Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Page 3 · response
Published 19 September 2025

Open published response
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Information checked against the published report and official responses · Data reviewed 7 Sep 2026 · About data quality and limitations

Data last updated 7 September 2026