Debate contribution: Thrombectomy Service

Debate contribution by Mr Colin McGrath on 10 February 2026.

MLA

Mr Colin McGrath

Party at the time

Social Democratic and Labour Party

Date

10 February 2026

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Opposition Business

Heading

Thrombectomy Service

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 5435775

Read the official Assembly record

Text

I beg to move

Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker. I begin my contribution by acknowledging the stroke survivors and families and representatives of the Stroke Association who are in the Public Gallery, watching the debate. You are not statistics, and you are not case studies. You are people who know, in your bodies and lives, how suddenly everything can change, and you know the importance of having a 24/7 thrombectomy service. Today, we are here for you. A stroke is something that will, undoubtedly, touch all of our lives, be that through experiencing one or through family or friendship circles. A stroke does not announce itself politely or time itself around service provision. It is devastating and incredibly frightening. One moment, you are yourself, and, in the next, words will not come, your arm will not move, the room tilts and fear takes over. From that moment, time becomes everything. Every minute, brain cells die. Every delay steals a part of you that may never come back. Yet, in Northern Ireland, whether you get the most effective stroke treatment available can still depend on what time of day you collapse. In framing today's debate, there is a strong moral argument to be made for a 24/7 thrombectomy service. We already have the clinical evidence: thrombectomy is one of the most effective medical interventions to be developed. A doctor physically removes the clot that is killing the brain, restores the blood flow and, in many cases, restores a future. When it is delivered quickly, it can prevent severe disability and allow people to walk, talk, work, parent and live independently again. It can mean the difference between coming home and never truly coming back. Despite that, access in Northern Ireland is still limited to 8.00 am until 5.00 pm. That means that, in reality, over 100 people every year are denied a thrombectomy simply because their stroke happened at the wrong time of day: not because the treatment does not exist or would not work but because the service is not there when they need it. That seems wrong. I will put a human face on the debate and talk about Paul. Paul was 41 years old. He was an English and drama teacher who was working, active and planning a future, as the rest of us do, without imagining that one ordinary day would split his life in two. When he had his stroke, his wife, Suzanne, recognised the signs immediately and called for help. The ambulance crew made a critical decision to bypass the local hospital and take him straight to the Royal Victoria Hospital (RVH), and Paul received a thrombectomy. Doctors had warned Suzanne that he had only a 10% chance of surviving the procedure, but the clot was removed on the first attempt. Paul lived, is with us today and, while he still lives with the impact of the stroke, the thrombectomy saved his life. Since then, he has achieved one of his life's ambitions and walked the Camino de Santiago to Santiago de Compostela. That is what access can do. Paul was lucky, but luck should never be the organising principle of a health service. In 2022, the stroke action plan committed to delivering a 24/7 thrombectomy service by the end of 2024. It is 2026: that commitment was not delivered, and no replacement timeline has been put in place. Every day that passes means that people continue to lose chances that they will never get back. The motivation behind our motion today is not blame. It is not about blaming the Minister or clinicians, because I genuinely believe that the Minister wants to do all that he can for stroke victims and survivors. Stroke teams based in our hospitals have gone above and beyond. They have expanded access, embraced innovation and improved outcomes when they have been given the tools to do so, but goodwill cannot carry a system for ever. Thrombectomy is not just life-changing; it is highly cost-effective and saves around £47,000 per patient over five years by reducing long-term disability, hospital stays and social care costs, and that is exactly the kind of reform that aligns with the Health and Social Care (HSC) reset plan. Crucially, we do not have to guess what works. In the South, a 24/7 thrombectomy service operates in Dublin and Cork. Dublin moved straight to a round-the-clock model. It did not wait for a perfect workforce. It started, it learned and then it scaled. The culture in the South was one that said, "We are going to do this because it is the right thing to do". The South's thrombectomy rate is around 10%, which is far higher than anywhere in the UK. There is much that we can learn from that, and, given the complexity of our geography and the constraints on the health budget, I wonder whether the Health Minister will consider emulating the current process in Dublin and Cork in the Ulster region to encapsulate places such as Cavan, Donegal and Monaghan. People from those areas have to travel all the way round to access a service that could be provided in Belfast and have to try to get down to Dublin in time. I am sure that, if approaches were made to the Dublin Government to assist with some of the funding for that, that might help us provide the service with some finance. I hope that the Minister can look at that as a positive North/South health arrangement that might deliver services, be there for people when they need it and not put strain purely on our health service budget. The motion is not asking for miracles. It asks for transparent and achievable goals; a clear, time-bound delivery plan; defined milestones; transparency about costs and savings; and serious consideration of a phased or pilot approach that learns directly from the South and, if possible, works in partnership with the South. Even today, in 2026, stroke kills, but it does not always have to. We have a moral obligation to survivors and those who are yet to have a stroke to ensure that they do not lose their future simply because their stroke happened at the wrong time.

1,035 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

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Assessed 21 October 2026 at 14:52 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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