In this guide, we will look at the process of claiming stroke misdiagnosis compensation. The misdiagnosis of a stroke can cause harm and, in some cases, can even result in death. If your stroke was misdiagnosed as a result of medical negligence, then you may be able to claim for the impact that this has had.
Stroke misdiagnosis compensation claim guide
We will look at the duty of care that healthcare professionals, such as surgeons and GPs, owe their patients and how this can be breached. We will also look at the impact that the misdiagnosis of a stroke can have on your health and how injuries are valued in these kinds of claims.
Our team of trained advisors can answer any questions, big or small, that you may have about the compensation claim process. Contact us today using the details below:
- Website: Contact us today through our website
- Live chat: Talk to us today about your claim using the feature on your screen now
- Phone: Call us on 0161 696 9685
Select A Section
- What Is The Misdiagnosis Of A Stroke
- How Common Are Strokes?
- Did A Doctor Fail To Diagnose Your Stroke?
- Am I Eligible To Make A Stroke Misdiagnosis Compensation Claim?
- Stroke Misdiagnosis Compensation Claims Calculator
- Why Contact Legal Helpline?
What Is The Misdiagnosis Of A Stroke
A misdiagnosis means that a person with one medical condition was diagnosed by a doctor with another condition they do not have. This could mean that the symptoms of a stroke could be determined as something else.
Misdiagnosis can be harmful as it might stop you from being diagnosed with the condition you have and, therefore, stop you from getting the right treatment. Furthermore, you might be given the wrong medication or treatment for the condition you’re diagnosed with, and this causes you unnecessary harm.
You can’t claim for any misdiagnosis, only ones that come about as a result of negligence and that negatively impact your health. Negligence is where a medical professional has not met the minimum standard of care expected of them.
What Is A Stroke?
A stroke is a potentially life-threatening medical condition that happens when the brain is cut off from a supply of blood. If a stroke does happen, a person should receive treatment as soon as possible to reduce any damage to the brain.
According to the NHS, a stroke can affect any part of the brain. The recovery process from a stroke can often lead to long-term problems, depending on where the stroke attacked the brain. The effects can range from minor to life-changing. For example, you could experience paralysis or a brain injury as a result.
Speak with our team today to see if you could claim stroke misdiagnosis compensation.
How Common Are Strokes?
According to the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, there are around 100,000 strokes every year in the UK, causing around 38,000 deaths each year. Approximately 1.3 million people are living with stroke in the UK.
For more guidance on making a claim for stroke misdiagnosis compensation, speak with an advisor today. If you have a valid claim, you could be connected with a No Win No Fee solicitor from our panel.
Did A Doctor Fail To Diagnose Your Stroke?
There are many different reasons why a stroke may have been misdiagnosed. However, you can only claim for a misdiagnosis that harmed you if it resulted from medical negligence.
Below, we have included examples of factors that may cause a condition such as a stroke to be misdiagnosed:
- A medical professional failed to order follow-up diagnostic test
- A diagnostic test was performed, but the results of this were incorrectly interpreted
- A medical professional mixed up your patient files with those of another patient. As a result, you received their diagnosis and vice versa.
If you could prove that negligence by a medical professional has led to you suffering avoidable harm, you could be entitled to claim stroke misdiagnosis compensation. If you need any further advice, please get in touch with us today.
Is Misdiagnosis Considered Negligence?
As we have already mentioned, not all instances of misdiagnosis will be caused by medical negligence. For example, you might seek medical attention, but the symptoms that you are exhibiting aren’t typical of the condition you’re suffering from.
Because of this, it might not be reasonable to expect that a medical professional makes a correct diagnosis based on the information that they have. As a result, you’d be unable to claim for the harm caused to you.
Furthermore, you can’t claim for a misdiagnosis that did not cause you harm, even if it was caused by negligence. There needs to be some form of unnecessary suffering caused by the negligence, such as a new injury or illness or a worsening of the condition you already have.
The Bolam Test might be used to determine whether negligence has occurred in your case. This is where a panel of appropriately trained medical professionals are asked to confirm whether or not the medical professional in question was negligent.
Contact us today for more information on a stroke misdiagnosis compensation claim.
Am I Eligible To Make A Stroke Misdiagnosis Compensation Claim?
Medical professionals have a duty of care toward their patients. If this duty of care is breached, then it could lead to a misdiagnosis or delayed diagnosis, which in turn could cause delayed treatment. As a result, your health is negatively impacted.
To understand if you are eligible to claim, you can ask yourself the following questions:
- Did the medical professional owe you a duty of care?
- Was that duty of care breached?
- Did the breach of duty result in harm that you wouldn’t have experienced if the right level of care had been administered?
It’s also important that you start your claim within the appropriate time limit. The time limit for starting medical negligence claims is generally 3 years.
This means that you should start your claim within 3 years from the date that the negligence occurred or the date that you connected negligence with your worsening condition. The latter is called the date of knowledge.
There are exceptions to this time limit. For example, if you are under the age of 18, then you can’t legally pursue your own claim. If this is the case, then you could appoint a litigation friend to claim for you. This is an adult who acts on your behalf; they can claim for you at any point until you turn 18. If no claim has been made by the time you come of age, then the three-year time limit starts, and you can claim yourself until you turn 21.
There are other exceptions to the time limits that apply. To see if you could still make a claim for stroke misdiagnosis compensation, speak with an advisor.
Stroke Misdiagnosis Compensation Claims Calculator
Stroke misdiagnosis compensation can be made up of two heads. These are known as special damages and general damages.
General damages
Physical and psychological injuries can be compensated through general damages. This head of your claim accounts for the pain, suffering and loss of amenity you have experienced.
The table below contains information from the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG) that were published in 2022. It is the 16th edition of the guidelines. Legal professionals use this document to assist them in assigning value to claims. It can also be used to value personal injury compensation.
| Stroke-related injuries | Compensation brackets | Injury description |
|---|---|---|
| Tetraplegia (also known as Quadriplegia) | £324,600 to £403,990 | Paralysis from the neck down. Award can be impacted by factors like life expectancy and presence of pain. |
| Paraplegia (b) | £219,070 to £284,260 | Paralysis from the waist down. Award can be impacted by factors like life expectancy and presence of pain. |
| Brain damage: Very severe (a) | £282,010 to £403,990 | A severe injury to the brain which has led to the person afflicted requiring full-time nursing care. |
| Brain damage: Moderately Severe (b) | £219,070 to £282,010 | The person affected would be seriously disabled and with substantial dependence on others. |
| Brain damage: Moderate (i) | £150,110 to £219,070 | Moderate to severe impact on the intellectual ability of the person, a change in personality and an effect on the other sensors such as sight and speech |
| Brain damage: Moderate (ii) (c) | £90,720 to £150,110 | A moderate modest effect on the intellect as well a reduced ability to work. |
| Epilepsy: Established Grand Mal (a) | £102,000 to £150,110 | Established grand mal |
| Epilepsy: Established Petit Mal | £54,830 to £131,370 | Award will depend in part on whether there is an effect on a social life and work life. |
| Epilepsy: Other Epileptic Conditions | £10,640 to £26,290 | There may be an increased risk or a temporary resurgence of epilepsy. |
| Bladder (b) | Up to £140,660 | A complete loss of function and control of the bladder |
Please be aware that the figures in the table above are only guidelines; they are not guarantees. The amount you receive in your settlement can be affected by your personal circumstances.
Special damages
If you have suffered financial loss due to a stroke misdiagnosis resulting from negligence, then you could claim special damages.
This head of your claim could co
- Loss of income or wages
- Cost of travel expenses
- Cost of childcare
- Home adaptations or modifications
It’s important that you provide evidence of these costs and losses in order to be fully compensated. If you fail to provide this, then you might not get the full amount you’re entitled to.
Why Contact Legal Helpline?
We have a team of excellent advisors who can answer any question about the claims process. Furthermore, if you have a valid claim, you could be connected with a lawyer from our panel.
The solicitors on our panel can offer No Win No Fee agreements. A popular form of this kind of arrangement is called a Conditional Fee Agreement. It’s a way of funding the work of a lawyer.
With this kind of agreement in place, it means that you:
- Don’t pay anything to your lawyer upfront or as they work on your claim
- Only pay a legally-capped success fee to your lawyer if you’re awarded compensation, which is deducted from your settlement
- Won’t be asked to pay your lawyer for their services at all if you’re not awarded compensation
Speak to a member of our claims team today for free legal advice on claiming stroke misdiagnosis compensation:
- Website: Contact us today through our website
- Live chat: Talk to us today about your claim
- Phone: 0161 696 9685
Learn More
Further Legal Helpline guides:
- Claiming For Cancer Misdiagnosis
- Claiming For Birth Injury Negligence
- Cosmetic Surgery Negligence
- Get further information on claiming prescription error compensation and find out if you could make a claim
Additional guides:
We hope that this guide on stroke misdiagnosis compensation claims has been useful; if you have any more questions, please get in touch.
Written by EW
Edited by DSB/FS