Misdiagnosed Stroke Compensation Claims

By Cat Grayson. Last Updated 17th July 2023. Did you have a stroke that was misdiagnosed by a medical professional? Did the care you received from this professional fall below an acceptable standard? As a result of this diagnosis, did you suffer more than you would have if you’d received the correct diagnosis? If so, you could be eligible to claim stroke misdiagnosis compensation.

Misdiagnosed stroke compensation claims guide

Misdiagnosed stroke compensation claims guide

A stroke is a serious medical emergency that could have life-changing or life-threatening effects on its victims. However, with timely and appropriate intervention and treatment, the impact of a stroke can be mitigated. Because of this, accurate and quick diagnoses of strokes are crucial.

If strokes are missed or misdiagnosed by medical professionals, it can mean the patient’s condition could deteriorate. A misdiagnosis of a stroke will not always be the result of negligence; however, if a doctor is negligent and this causes your condition to be worse than it would have been, you could be eligible to make a medical negligence claim.

If you need advice about making a claim, we can help. One of our advisors may be able to connect you with a medical negligence solicitor if your claim is valid. You can get in touch by:

Select A Section

  1. What Is A Stroke Misdiagnosis Claim?
  2. Are There Different Types Of Stroke?
  3. Time Limit For Misdiagnosis Of Stroke Claims
  4. How Could A Stroke Be Misdiagnosed?
  5. Evidence To Support A Claim For Stroke Misdiagnosis
  6. Stroke Misdiagnosis Compensation Payouts
  7. Compensation For Misdiagnosis – Special Damages
  8. No Win No Fee Stroke Misdiagnosis Compensation Claims
  9. Supporting Resources

What Is A Stroke Misdiagnosis Claim?

When a person suffers from a stroke, it’s important that they receive medical attention  as soon as possible. The misdiagnosis of a stroke can cause a number of severe and long-lasting consequences, and can even be fatal. If you’ve been harmed as a result of a misdiagnosed stroke, you may be wondering if you can claim. 

In order to form the basis of a valid medical negligence claim, you must be able to prove that:

  • A medical professional owed you a duty of care,
  • They breached this duty of care,
  • You suffered avoidable harm because of this breach.

When these three factors come together in a stroke misdiagnosis claim, they lay the foundation of medical negligence. 

Every medical professional owes a duty of care to their patients, which means they have a responsibility to provide the correct standard of care. The responsibilities of medical professionals under this duty of care can vary from profession to profession; for example, the General Medical Council (GMC) outlines the duties of a doctor, but the General Pharmaceutical Council set the standards for registered pharmacies and pharmacy professionals in Great Britain.

Sometimes, misdiagnosis occurs even when a medical professional has upheld their duty of care. In these cases, medical negligence may not have occurred meaning you may not be eligible to claim. 

To find out if you could be eligible to claim for misdiagnosis, contact our team of friendly advisors. They can answer any questions you may have about the claims process, such as “How much compensation could I get for misdiagnosis?” and “How long do I have to claim?”.

What Is A Stroke?

A stroke occurs when the supply of blood flow to the brain is cut off. This is a serious situation in which the victim is at risk of serious brain damage or death.

The loss of the supply of blood to the brain will prevent the brain from functioning and cause the cells in the brain to die. A person suffering from a stroke needs urgent emergency medical care. The longer it takes for a stroke victim to get to the hospital, the more severe the effects of the stroke might be.

Are There Different Types Of Stroke?

There are different types of stroke, and strokes can have different causes. The two main types of stroke are Ischaemic strokes and hemorrhagic strokes.

Ischaemic strokes are caused when the flow of blood to the brain is stopped by a blood clot. According to the NHS, these account for 85% of all cases of strokes. Haemorrhagic strokes are caused by ruptured blood vessels. This is where a weakened vessel that supplies blood to the brain bursts.

In addition to these types of strokes, you may also suffer from a Transient Ischemic Attack (TIA). TIAs can also be referred to as “ministrokes”.

The symptoms can last for a few minutes or persist for up to 24 hours. They are less serious on their own than strokes but can often serve as a forewarning that the victim is in danger of suffering a full stroke in the future. It can also be difficult to tell whether someone is suffering from a TIA or a full stroke, so you should always seek medical attention if you experience any symptoms.

Time Limit For Misdiagnosis Of Stroke Claims

Those eligible to claim for the misdiagnosis of a stroke should be aware that there is a time limit for starting this process. The Limitation Act 1980 sets out that there’s generally a three-year time limit for starting a medical negligence claim.

Depending on your circumstances, this time limit applies from either the date the medical negligence occurred or the date of knowledge. The latter refers to when you obtained knowledge that you suffered avoidable harm because a medical professional breached the duty of care you were owed by them.

The time limit can work differently under certain circumstances. If the claimant is a child, then the time limit for starting a claim will be suspended until their 18th birthday. A medical negligence claim could be made on the child’s behalf by a court-appointed litigation friend before this date. However, if this does not occur, then the claimant will usually have three years to start their own claim once they turn 18.

If the claimant lacks the mental capacity to claim on their own, then the three-year time limit is suspended indefinitely. A claim could be made on behalf of the party harmed by a stroke misdiagnosis by a litigation friend. If this does not happen and the claimant later recovers their mental capacity, then the time limit will activate from the date of recovery.

For more advice about the time limit or other aspects of claiming compensation for a misdiagnosis, contact our team of advisors online or on the phone today.

How Could A Stroke Be Misdiagnosed?

A stroke may be misdiagnosed for a number of different reasons. One is that some conditions possess similar symptoms to a stroke. Medical issues that could be mistaken for a stroke include:

  • Multiple sclerosis
  • Seizures
  • Severe migraines
  • Bell’s palsy
  • Low blood sugar

There are tests involved in the diagnosis of a stroke. Carrying out these tests incorrectly, or incorrectly assessing the results of these tests, could result in a misdiagnosis of a stroke. For instance, everyone who attends the hospital with a suspected stroke should receive a brain scan. If a healthcare professional fails to administer this despite the fact that a stroke is suspected, they could be considered negligent.

Some factors that could cause a stroke to be misdiagnosed or for a diagnosis to be crucially delayed might have little to do with the practice of medicine itself. For example, a clerical error could result in test results being misplaced or lost, delaying a diagnosis.

A misdiagnosis is not always an example of medical negligence. Sometimes, a doctor can misdiagnose an illness while still adhering to the standard of care expected of their profession. To determine whether a misdiagnosis is negligent or not, courts will administer something called the Bolam Test.

This is where a panel of the doctor’s peers will be asked whether they would have acted the same way when presented with the same information. If they confirm that they would have acted the same, the doctor will not be considered negligent.

However, if they confirm that they would have acted differently, then the doctor may be considered negligent. This is because the level of care they provided fell below the standard expected of their profession.

Evidence To Support A Claim For Stroke Misdiagnosis

To be eligible to make a medical negligence claim for a stroke misdiagnosis, you will need to prove that you suffered harm due to a medical professional breaching their duty of care. Gathering sufficient evidence could help with proving this.

Some examples of the evidence you could collect to help support your medical negligence claim include:

  • Your medical records. These can show any diagnoses or treatments you have received.
  • The contact details of anyone who witnessed your stroke or was with you when you received your misdiagnosis. They could be asked to provide a statement.
  • Proof of any financial losses you suffered due to medical negligence, such as a payslip to prove loss of earnings.

Additionally, the findings of the Bolam test could be used as evidence in your claim. This is when a panel of relevantly trained medical professionals assess whether the standard of care you received was of an appropriate level.

Contact our advisors today to see whether you could make a medical negligence claim for the misdiagnosis of a stroke. If they believe you may have a strong case, they could connect you with one of the solicitors on our panel.

Stroke Misdiagnosis Compensation Payouts

If you’re wondering, ‘how much compensation for a misdiagnosis could I receive?’, you may like to view a misdiagnosis compensation calculator. However, these cannot always tell you everything you could be compensated for should you suffer due to the misdiagnosis of a stroke. Every claim will be affected by different factors. For example, some claims for the misdiagnosis of a stroke may include special damages, which we explore further in the next section.

If your claim is successful, you will receive general damages. This seeks to compensate for your pain and suffering.

To help assign value to this head of your claim, legal professionals use a document called the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG). It contains examples of injuries listed alongside compensation brackets. We’ve provided examples from the 16th edition in our table below. The figures given are only for illustrative purposes. They are not how much compensation for a misdiagnosis you could receive.

SymptomCompensation
Tetraplegia£324,600 to
£403,990
Paraplegia£219,070 to
£284,260
Very severe brain damage£264,650 to £379,100
Moderately severe brain damage£219,070 to £282,010
Moderate brain damage£43,060 to £219,070
Less severe brain damage£15,320 to £43,060

Call our advisors for a more accurate valuation of your claim for a misdiagnosis of a stroke.

Compensation For Misdiagnosis – Special Damages

How much compensation for a misdiagnosis you receive in a successful claim could be affected if you are eligible for special damages.

Special damages compensation for misdiagnosis may be awarded for any financial loss directly caused by your injuries. For example, if you are misdiagnosed, you may need to take time off work and therefore suffer a loss of earnings. Keep hold of any payslips as evidence of this loss.

Other types of special damages could include:

  • Travel expenses – A misdiagnosis may involve a lot of travelling to and from hospitals or other appointments. Retain your travel receipts to be reimbursed for this loss.
  • Prescription fees – You may have paid for a prescription after your misdiagnosis; keep hold of any receipts to show the amount.
  • Mobility aids – You may have required mobility aids such as a cane if your misdiagnosis resulted in the exacerbation of your injury. You could claim this cost back.

The medical negligence solicitors on our panel could give you an estimate of what you might receive in compensation. To find out more, contact our advisors for free at any time.

No Win No Fee Stroke Misdiagnosis Compensation Claims

If you are ready to start your stroke misdiagnosis compensation claim, a solicitor from our panel may be able to help. Our panel of solicitors provide their services on a No Win No Fee basis by offering a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA). When you enter into a CFA, this means you aren’t required to pay any upfront fees in order for your solicitor to begin working on your claim. Similarly, they will not take any fees for their work if your claim fails. 

Should your claim succeed, then your solicitor will be due a success fee. This fee is taken straight from your compensation as a small percentage. However, this percentage is subject to a legislative cap, which helps to ensure that you keep the majority of your award.

There are many benefits to working with a solicitor. For example, our panel take claims on from all over the country, meaning you aren’t obligated to settle for a solicitor in your local area. 

Our advisors are here to help. If you have any more questions surrounding the medical negligence claims process, or if you’d like to get started, get in touch today by:

Contact Our Specialist Team

Thank you for reading our guide. If you would like to know more about making a No Win No Fee claim for stroke misdiagnosis compensation, you can get in touch with our team by:

Supporting Resources

Other Medical Negligence Guides

Thank you for reading our guide on claiming stroke misdiagnosis compensation.

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