PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Dipankar Dutta
AU  - Frances Parry
AU  - Mudhar Obaid
AU  - Gopinath Ramadurai
TI  - Mechanical thrombectomy in stroke – planning for service expansion using discrete event simulation
AID  - 10.7861/fhj.2019-0003
DP  - 2020 Feb 01
TA  - Future Healthcare Journal
PG  - 65--71
VI  - 7
IP  - 1
4099  - http://www.rcpjournals.org/content/7/1/65.short
4100  - http://www.rcpjournals.org/content/7/1/65.full
SO  - Future Healthc J2020 Feb 01; 7
AB  - Mechanical thrombectomy (MT) is a very effective, but highly time dependent, reperfusion technique in the management of acute ischaemic stroke caused by large artery occlusion. MT is provided by 24 neuroscience centres (NSCs) in the UK which receive patients directly (‘mothership’) and via transfer from district general hospitals (DGHs), the ‘drip and ship’ pathway. NSCs currently provide a within hours service but are working on service expansion to enable 24/7 availability. DGHs, too, will need to prepare for this service expansion to ensure good outcomes for their patients. We discuss options for service expansion in a DGH and regional stroke network in south-west England and use Sentinel Stroke National Audit Programme data and discrete event simulation to model and compare alternative workflow options to aid the planning process. We suggest that our modelled options could be considered by all NHS DGHs in their preparation for MT service expansion.