Does anyone know anything about medical negligence?

My family is at the beginning of a possible negligence case. My brother was taken by ambulance to hospital because he was taken very ill with a violent headache and vomiting. He was kept in the A&E department overnight and diagnosed with migraine. No CT scan was given. Only blood test and pain killers. Even though it was obvious he was very ill, we were called to take him home. I argued with the staff he wasn't fit to go. However I was told he has been cleared to leave. So he has to leave. He was unable to walk to the car park. He couldn't even manage to negotiate from the chair to a wheelchair. He was in a very confused state.

He was violently sick throughout the journey and collapsed as soon as he got out of the cab. I called his GP who told me to call another ambulance. This time he was taken to a different hospital. A CT scan found he had suffered a stroke. Result is he has lost almost all of his eyesight. And has been left with weakness down his left side.

I made a complaint to the hospital and have just received the completed investigation report. It clearly states mistakes were made and guidelines were not followed. I am awaiting direction from a solicitor as to what can be done. Has anyone any experience with things like this? How hard was it?

I have been told it is selfish to think of making a negligence claim against the NHS because of the state it's in. However my brother's life has been left in shreds. This is not something he is going to be able to recover from and put behind him. Sadly for him, this is now his life. We hear often how time matters where strokes are concerned. And many vital hours were lost while he was sitting in A&E untreated.

Any advice you could give would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

If you are asking about the legal position I can't comment. I suspect no-one here can say anything more than that you might have a claim but medical negligence claims are complex and you must take advice from specialist solicitors.

If it's the "morality" of suing the NHS bear 2 things in mind.

This is not, on the face of it, some sort of 'unfair enrichment', you're not playing the system for some trivial or inconsequential error. Your brother has suffered major injuries and become disabled as a result of negligence. Loss of employment and income probably. Maybe a whole family who will suffer. He will need aids to enable him to participate in normal life, things that will cost a lot of money. His living standards, and maybe of his family, will drop. If the NHS were responsible they should compensate him for that. Otherwise you would be asking your brother and his family to personally subsidise the NHS. No doubt some claimants are taking the p*ss, but that's not the case here.

Look at it another way. If the NHS incurs no consequences from from serious failure in medical care then what incentive do NHS managers have to do anything about it? Because money is short it's also the key driver of the decisions they take. If the failures cost them a lot of money they're more likely to do something to improve. It might be too late to help your brother but others could benefit from the improvements in the future.

Don't feel bad about taking legal action.

You are better off checking with solicitors and please choose a good solicitor. It's about life changing changes it causes your brother

Thank you. I think I was mostly needing reassurance that a negligence claim is a valid thing to make. I understand the pressures the nhs is under. However as you say, what happened to my brother is life changing.

It's not only the effect the stroke has had on his sight. It's also affected his mental health. I can just do without people who are in no way affected by this telling me I shouldn't pursue this. I feel I owe it to my brother to try. Especially as the investigation report is so damning.