NHS Hero nominee – Dr Sanjeev Nayak
NHS Hero nominee – Dr Sanjeev Nayak
Dr Sanjeev Nayak’s pioneering work has saved the lives of many stroke patients and prevented others from having permanent neurological deficits.
A Consultant Interventional Neuroradiologist at the University Hospitals of North Midlands, Dr Nayak is one of the first and forefront pioneers of mechanical thrombectomy in acute ischemic stroke in the United Kingdom.
The mechanical thrombectomy service for stroke developed by Dr Nayak has not only saved and improved lives, it has resulted in cost savings to the NHS that run into millions of pounds by preventing or minimising stroke disabilities.
Dr Nayak has written national guideline documents with the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence and other UK national authorities.
He has a passion for clinical research and has been involved in numerous thrombectomy device developments. This has led him to win the The Sun newspaper’s Who Cares Wins award for Ground-breaking Pioneer and Discovery following a nomination made by one of his patients.
Dr Nayak has been recognised by his peers and patients for his outstanding achievement in establishing the service which has expanded under his leadership to cover a wider region including the Midlands, Shropshire, Cheshire and Wolverhampton.
He has been nominated for 19 national awards in various categories of the British Medical Journal and Health Service Journal awards. In 2018 he won the Windrush70 Award for Clinical Excellence following which he was invited to 10 Downing Street to meet the Prime Minister.
Also in 2018, Dr Nayak was hailed by the NHS as one of ‘health and care’s top 70 stars’ – and voted number two in the entire NHS – for his efforts to have mechanical thrombectomy in stroke widely adopted.
Dr Nayak has founded various national training courses and is heavily involved in medical education. He has developed courses through numerous innovative teaching modules and has a strong belief in evidence-based practice with a motto of saving lives through excellence and achieving excellence through education.
He also created a thrombectomy awareness event to help educate not only those in his professional environment but those around him too.
Dr Nayak earned his Membership of the Royal College of Physicians and Fellowship of the Royal College of Radiologists after graduating in India. He undertook further higher dual certification in Diagnostic and Interventional Neuroradiology in Europe under the European Union of Medical Specialists and completed an additional fellowship in Stroke Intervention in Austria.
He brought back the skills he acquired in Europe and helped set up the first UK 24/7 Mechanical Thrombectomy service at the Royal Stoke University Hospital in Stoke-on-Trent, which has become one of the leading centres for minimally invasive stroke thrombectomy in the United Kingdom.
Dr Nayak has been nominated as an NHS Hero in the Your Heroes Awards.