My husband suffered a stroke last year whilst we were on our annual seaside holiday. He was taken to the local hospital close to the hotel where we were staying. I am unsure of the treatment he received; I’m not sure if he had a brain scan or whether he received appropriate medication. He died 2 days later and I have been too upset to do anything about it until now. I saw an article last week saying stroke victims are not being treated as though they were medical emergencies like heart attacks and so ‘needless’ deaths are occurring. What can I do?
This hit the headlines last week as the Commons Public Accounts Committee stated that insufficient priority was being given to stroke services and this was causing unnecessary deaths and suffering. Stroke is the third biggest killer in after cancer and heart disease but it is not treated in the same way by being allocated appropriate resources.
Heart attacks have seen an annual decline in mortality rates, that is the number of people dying from the condition, where as stroke victims mortality rates have remained constant.
The Committee stated much more can be done to prevent stroke and to save lives and reduce disability. It was recommended that members of the public, hospital staff and GPs should treat stoke as an emergency requiring an emergency response.
In order to improve stroke victims’ chances of survival, they should be given brain scans followed by care on specialist units and, where appropriate, “clot busting" drugs. As things stand, only around two thirds of victims are treated in specialist stroke units.
The Committee's report follows the National Audit Office report from November of last year which recommended scans, and drug bust and rehabilitation services to boost recovery rates.
Not only would the services prevent deaths and disability, they would also save millions of pounds a year.
In order to assess whether your husband was appropriately treated, it would be necessary to obtain his medical records to see what care he was given following his admission to hospital. I recommend you seek legal advice as quickly as possible, as you will only have three years from the date of his death to issue court proceedings.
