The result of socialized medicine: A Grandfather in Wales dies after family says they are told that the life-saving procedure is “not available” on weekends.
The UK’s Daily Mirror reports “a granddad who died after suffering a stroke may still have been alive today if he not fallen ill on a Sunday, his family claims.Colin Rogers' family believe their loved one, who just 55, could have had lifesaving treatment had he not been struck by the stroke on the weekend.
He was taken to a hospital in Merthyr Tydfil, Wales following the “brain attack” at his home.
He had suffered a type of stroke called a basilar artery occlusion, which if caught within the first 24 hours, can can be treated with a “game-changing” procedure called a thrombectomy.
A thrombectomy involves surgically removing a blood clot from the brain, in a procedure often successful in limiting brain damage and preventing long-term disability”.
Colin’s family claim that because he had his stroke that particular Sunday, the treatment was unavailable to him.Four days after his stroke, Colin died in hospital.
His son, Callum Rogers says “Although we don’t know what the outcome would have been, this potentially could have saved his life... My dad was denied the chance of survival as Wales does not have access to this treatment and doesn’t have any units.We were also told [by a stroke consultant] that if he fell ill on a weekday they would have had a chance to transfer him to a specialist unit in England. Because this was a Sunday it was impossible.To find this out is just gut-wrenching.”
The family says “We want to make a difference so that people are not failed by the system as Colin was.”