A Countess of Chester Hospital nurse's petition for stroke patients to receive more urgent treatment has received tens of thousands of signatures.

Niki Derbyshire is a stroke co-ordinator at the hospital trust and says she has seen first-hand "countless patients" who have been forced to wait for a potentially life-saving procedure, due to current ambulance guidelines.

NHS ambulance services treat patients in different categories of urgency.

Category 1 patients, for example, are those who have life-threatening conditions and require immediate intervention, such as cardiac or respiratory arrest. Ambulance trusts are told to respond to such calls in an average of seven minutes, with 90 per cent responded to within 15 minutes.

'Time is Brain'

Category 2 patients, meanwhile, are for those classed as emergency patients who have had a heart attack, stroke, sepsis or serious burns. Ambulance trusts are to respond to these calls within an average of 18 minutes, with 90 per cent responded to within 40 minutes. However, according to the Nuffield Trust, the most recent national average recorded (for May 2024) was 32 minutes 44 seconds, with 90 per cent responded to within 68 minutes.

Niki explained that wait is too long for stroke patients, saying "Time is Brain" when it comes to stroke treatment, and it has resulted in patients having to wait too long to be transferred to other trusts for a thrombectomy.

Writing on the Change.org petition, which has more than 60,000 signatures since it was set up in late June, Niki said: "It is truly heart-wrenching to see so many patients left to battle life-long disabilities, and in some cases, lose their lives due to these extended wait times.

'The time to act is now'

"Stroke is the second leading cause of death worldwide and yet, despite the severity of this disease, the categorisation of stroke for ambulance services remains at Category 2. This categorisation does not reflect the emergency nature of a stroke event."

Niki added: "We must demand an urgent change. The time to act is now.

"We plead for the reclassification of ambulance services for stroke patients from Category 2 to Category 1 – recognising it as the life-threatening condition it truly is.

"This revision in categorisation can save lives, reduce disability, and improve recovery outcomes.

"Let us bring about this much-needed change in the system. Advocate for better care for stroke patients. Sign the petition. Let's save lives together."

'Extremely supportive'

As well as being signed by over 60,000, the petition has been welcomed by Niki's colleagues at the hospital trust.

Niki said: "My colleagues have been extremely supportive and are sharing and promoting the petition in every way possible. A lot of colleagues have commented on the fact that stroke is not a category 1 already as they assumed it was.

"I am so pleased that the petition has got as many signatures as it has in such a short space of time.

"Strokes can affects any one of any age so it is vital to try and get it recategorised so we can get treatment to patients as quickly as possible to save brain cells and reduce the damage caused."

The petition is marked for the attention of The Department for Health and Social Care, NHS England and the National Stroke Association.

To sign the petition, visit https://www.change.org/p/upgrade-ambulance-category-for-stroke-patients-from-2-to-1