NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde has launched a service that could change a stroke patients' life within 30 minutes.

The Interventional Neuroradiology Thrombectomy Suite is designed to enhance stroke care for people across the west of Scotland.

Thrombectomy is a procedure to remove a blood clot from a vessel in the brain which has caused a stroke.

The service is located within the Institute for Neurological Sciences (INS) at Queen Elizabeth University Hospital.

Dr Wazim Izzath, a consultant neuroradiologist with NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde (NHSGGC) and clinical lead for the unit, called the suite a "major step forward for the treatment of stroke in the west of Scotland".

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He said: "Our facilities are doubled up, with two procedure rooms, two anaesthetic rooms and two recovery bays, so we can care for multiple patients at the same time.

"Our motto here is 'Time is Brain’ – meaning the faster we can help patients the better their potential long-term outcomes – and this entire facility is set up in such a way that we can work quickly, with the Thrombectomy procedure itself being carried out in as little as half an hour.

“That’s 30 minutes to change someone’s life.”

The Thrombectomy Suite, equipped with the latest technology, with two machines which are central to the procedure costing £1.2 million each.

Susan Groom, director of Regional Services at NHSGGC, said: "This suite represents a significant investment in the care we can provide for people in Greater Glasgow and Clyde and throughout the west of Scotland.

“It will be staffed by some of the most skilled clinicians and medical scientists in the country and, working together as a highly effective unit, they will be able to many stroke patients every year.”

Dr Izzath added that thrombectomy, while may not be appropriate for every patient who suffers a stroke, can have life-changing results when it is used.

Pamela Philp, lead nurse at the INS, said: "The word life-changing is used all too often in healthcare, but it’s entirely appropriate when describing the work we’ll be able to do in the thrombectomy suite."

“I have seen patients left with serious, life-limiting issues after a stroke – speech loss, partial paralysis – and the aim of all stroke care is to reduce those effects and give people as far as possible their old life back.

“People need to be at home with their families and getting on with life – this new facility will greatly increase our ability to help them do that.”