David HargrovesClinician

Biography

Dr David Hargroves is NHS England's National Clinical Director for Stroke, appointed to the role in February 2024. He is also a consultant stroke physician and clinical lead for stroke medicine at East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust, where he has worked for over ten years. He graduated from University College London and holds a Masters from King's College London following a stroke research thesis undertaken during general medicine, geriatric and stroke fellowship training. He previously served as clinical lead for the Getting it Right First Time (GIRFT) stroke programme for NHS England and co-produced the National Stroke Service Model (NSSM), the Integrated Stroke Care Service Model (ICSSM), and the National Optimal Stroke Imaging Pathway (NOSIP). He is a holder of the Life after Stroke Award for Professional Excellence from the Stroke Association and is known for advocating rapid diagnosis and treatment of stroke, including the use of AI imaging tools to speed up clinical decision-making.

References

1. 1.NHS England – David Hargroves author page — Confirms current role as NHS England National Clinical Director for Stroke; education; previous roles including GIRFT lead and National Specialty Advisor; co-production of NSSM, ICSSM and NOSIP
2. 2.Two GIRFT clinicians newly appointed to national NHS leadership roles – GIRFT — Confirms February 2024 NCD appointment; role as GIRFT stroke clinical lead; co-production of national stroke pathway documents; Life after Stroke Award for Professional Excellence
3. 3.National role for East Kent stroke consultant – EKHUFT — Confirms consultant and clinical lead role at East Kent Hospitals; UCL and King's education; GIRFT stroke programme lead and co-authorship of national stroke report (2022)
4. 4.Stroke – Getting It Right First Time (GIRFT) — HSJ Patient Safety Awards 2022 win by East Kent team; research interests; length of service in East Kent; BASP education and training board membership

Expertise

Cited on

• Hospital discharge / bed-blocking

Stated areas of expertise

• Stroke medicine
• Acute stroke care pathways
• Stroke service transformation
• AI and imaging in stroke care
• Pre-hospital stroke triage
• NHS clinical leadership

Notable achievements

• Appointed NHS England National Clinical Director for Stroke in February 2024, having previously led the GIRFT stroke programme and co-written the national stroke report published in 2022. Source ↗
• Co-produced the National Stroke Service Model (NSSM), the Integrated Stroke Care Service Model (ICSSM), and the National Optimal Stroke Imaging Pathway (NOSIP), all published in 2021. Source ↗
• His East Kent team won the national award for best Quality Improvement Initiative at the HSJ Patient Safety Awards 2022 for sustainable, patient-centred improvements during the COVID pandemic using innovative technological solutions. Source ↗
• Holder of the Life after Stroke Award for Professional Excellence from the Stroke Association. Source ↗

What they’ve said

• “This AI decision support technology is revolutionising how we help people who have been affected by a stroke. It is estimated a patient loses around 2m brain cells a minute at the start of a stroke, which is why rapid diagnosis and treatment is so critical.”

  NHS national clinical director for stroke · Hospital discharge / bed-blocking · 27 Aug 2026 · Stroke centres in England given AI tool that will help 50% of patients recover ↗

Source references

1. Stroke centres in England given AI tool that will help 50% of patients recovertheguardian.com · 27 Aug 2026

Contact & links

• Staff pagehttps://www.england.nhs.uk/author/david-hargroves/
• Websitehttps://www.ekhuft.nhs.ukpublished here ↗

Organisational contact points only, each taken from a page the organisation publishes itself. No personal or direct contact details are held or shown.