I had a Stroke about 5 weeks ago

it started at 11:00am ,

admitted to A& E approx 12:00 pm

sat on trolley for about 2 hours.

Some very simple tests were carried out .

I was discharged.

Felt disoriented and tired , went home .

Had no idea what was going on.

Became progressively worse.

By about 7pm my daughter drove me back to A&E.

I could not get out of car,

she rushed in telling them I was having a stroke .

They gave her wheelchair somehow I got in and she wheeled me to Admissions Desk.

Told them I was having stroke.

They told us where to sit so Triage could check me.

My daughter noticed I was in low priority section.

Eventually seen.

Laid in trolley on ward upstairs and was finally seen at approx. 3:00am and finally taken down to Acute Stroke Unit 14 hours after Stroke occurred.

Thoughts please.

What do you want to achieve?

Well clearly if I had been seen to promptly I reckon I would of be in a better situation than I am now ( partially disabled) I was very fit and had none of the problems that normally preclude a stroke.

Ironically when I was in Wheelchair waiting for Triage I was in front of one of those dramatic Stroke posters.

I want to stop it happening to anyone else and obviously this is going to cost me a lot of money so compensation.

It bothers me that if I did receive compensation it would take money away from the NHS but when you see their budget .....well.

I even have a copy of the discharge letter from the morning.

For compensation : don’t go down the NHS complaints route.

You’ll need to get a PI (personal injury) solicitor with clinical negligence experience.

Be prepared for them (the NHS, not your solicitor!) to argue that:

a) they didn’t “miss” anything, and their care was appropriate for your presentation, signs and symptoms, and

b) even if they did miss anything that it didn’t cause you additional harm, that you would have suffered the injury you have to the same degree anyway.

You’ll likely need an expert opinion (reviewing the notes from both A&E and the admission) who also examines you, to tell you if they did breach their duty of care and if it caused additional harm to what would have happened anyway.

Was told in hospital that if I was given the appropriate medication within 3 hours I would have been home within 2 days