NHS will operate on brain tumours while patients are awake in fast-track surgery

Patients with brain tumours are to be offered fast-track day surgery for the first time.
The operation lasts just a few hours and they are allowed home the same day.
Instead of using a general anaesthetic, doctors inject
Fast track: now brain tumour operations could take only a few hours
It used to take up to a week in hospital to recuperate after brain surgery, but the use of local anaesthetic allows patients to rally far quicker. The technique has been pioneered by Britain's youngest female brain surgeon with a team based at University College Hospital, London.
Dr Gelareh Zadeh, 35, is a specialist in malignant tumours and one of the few female brain surgeons in the world.
She said: "The fact the patient can be awake makes them feel a lot better after surgery and it makes it a lot easier for doctors to operate.
"It is also good for cancer patients who cannot tolerate a general anaesthetic.
"Before, people would have to stay in for at least two days and sometimes up to a week."
The results of her work with the Brain Metastatic Clinic have been so impressive that the technique is to be adopted by the NHS.
Her first patient, Deborah Calder, 52, was so relaxed by the experience that she chatted all through the operation.
She said: "It was a bit strange at first when they started putting pins into my head, but I knew that if anything went wrong, then they would give me a general anaesthetic.
"By the evening I was at home with my family. There is no doubt this saved my life. It has given me a whole lease of life