It is a privilege to be taking up the post of UKNG Chair. I have been a member since 1998 when there were only about 30 INRs in the country, and only 80 DNRs. How we have grown!. There are many challenges facing us, principally around thrombectomy, staffing, and future growth. Dr Lenthall has been a superb chair, and I look forward to carrying on his good work.
I am a full time INR (and DNR) consultant at Charing Cross Hospital (part of Imperial College NHS trust) and am part of the thrombectomy on call rota, which has now been running for 3 years, without a single day of downtime. I’m told we are the longest such service in the UK.
Prior to my appointment in 1999, I trained in INR at Manchester, and Radiology in Cambridge, and before that was a Med Reg and SHO in Stoke-on-Trent, House jobs in Brighton and Guys Hospital. . A fairly broad UK experience which I hope allows me to say that I realise that one solution does not fit all and that as a group we should aim to deliver, maintain and audit a full INR service throughout the UK.
Formed in 1990, the United Kingdom Neurointerventional Group (UKNG) represents specialist doctors who perform minimally invasive operations on the brain, spine, head and neck blood vessels. These neurointerventional procedures include the treatment of aneurysms, arteriovenous malformations and mechanical thrombectomy for acute ischaemic stroke.
UKNG is closely affiliated with the British Society of Neuroradiologists (BSNR). UKNG is a special interest group (SIG) of the Royal College of Radiologists (RCR).
Executive members of UKNG serve on many national committees and have carried out advisory roles to groups such as NICE and the GMC.
UKNG has worked with BSNR, RCR, BSIR, BASP, SBNS, GMC as well as many other groups and individuals to develop a GMC recognised pathway for training doctors to become neurointerventionalists, in part to increase the capacity to provide mechanical thrombectomy treatment for acute ischaemic stroke.
This training pathway has been mapped to international accredited pathway. More details are available on the RCR, BSNR and GMC websites.