Pippa Tyrrell: Manchester’s first ever dedicated stroke physician whose overhaul of the city’s services led to change throughout the UK

Before Pippa Tyrrell led the overhaul of Manchester’s stroke services, patients were admitted to general medical and geriatric wards in their local hospital and had limited access to emergency brain scans, treatment, or coordinated care.

But as the city’s first ever dedicated stroke physician, Tyrrel believed that specialised units were the way forward. Services were centralised in 2010 and then again in 2015 with the introduction of the Greater Manchester regional stroke care pathway, where patients are rapidly assessed and treated at one of three dedicated hyperacute stroke units.

Once patients are stabilised they are sent to local units for rehabilitation and secondary prevention. Patients now have round-the-clock access to thrombolysis, thrombectomy, and neurosurgical intervention—something that had long been Tyrrell’s vision.

Mortality among patients treated at the hyperacute stroke unit has fallen by 1.8%, equating to 69 fewer deaths a year, and (risk adjusted) length of acute hospital stay overall was cut by 1.5 days, saving 6750 bed days a year.1

Not only did Tyrrell succeed in transforming stroke management and care across Greater Manchester, she also created a new gold standard model for other stroke services around the country. She led the development, evaluation, and implementation of an evidence based assessment tool to identify and …