Up to one in five stroke patients seriously harmed by NHS shortages, doctors warn

Many will have been shocked by the headline in the Guardian last week claiming thousands of stroke victims were dying or left with irreversible injuries due to a shortage in experienced stroke medics in NHS trusts.

Prof David Werring, a former president of the British and Irish Association of Stroke Physicians (BIASP), warned the lack of trained staff caused delays in patients receiving life-saving stroke treatment such as thrombolysis (clot-busting drugs) or a mechanical thrombectomy (surgery to remove clots).

Another stroke specialist, Dr Sanjeev Nayak, a consultant interventional radiologist, believes 10 to 20% of people who have a stroke each year in the UK die or sustain a serious disability because of treatment delays linked to a shortage of staff including consultants, physicians and nurses.

With 100,000 people suffering a stroke each year, that’s 10,000 to 20,000 people affected every year.

These huge numbers show just how widespread the problem is, not just affecting the regions that are under-resourced, but all areas of the country where patients are attending hospitals with stroke symptoms.

Is there enough TIME to be treated?

Most people know how to spot the common signs of a stroke from the well-publicised FAST test, which is:

Face weakness

Arm weakness

Speech issues

Time to call 999

Time is critical when someone has suffered a stroke. A thrombectomy is most effective when provided within six hours of stroke symptom onset, but that relies on a multitude of steps to be taken when a call is made to 999, to make sure the patient gets that treatment in time. It involves the ambulance crew arriving quickly, the paramedics making an appropriate diagnosis, then getting the person to a specialist stroke unit and assessed by a stroke physician in time before being rushed to theatre.

Six hours may sound like a long time, however in 2024-2025, it took on average four hours and 11 minutes to get a stroke patient to hospital, according to findings from the Sentinel Stroke National Audit Programme (SSNAP). That leaves only 1 hour and 49 minutes for the patient to be booked in, a bed found, and undergo all necessary investigations such as scans and blood tests, before having the surgery.

It’s no wonder so many stroke patients are being let down when there are many variables to overcome in this time-critical period. Not all hospitals even have a dedicated stroke unit.

Multifactorial problems

As a solicitor who represents people who have suffered a stroke or have been injured due to medical negligence, I consider the problems with getting stroke patients diagnosed and treated in time, are multifactorial.

The lack of appropriately skilled stroke professionals is of course a major problem, because many patients are being misdiagnosed by those with a lack of stroke experience, or their stroke signs are not actioned quickly because there are nuances to their presentation. This means they are not getting the right treatment, and they are not getting the right treatment in time.

Another problem is patients often have to see two or three different medical professionals before they even see a stroke consultant (if at all).

• Stroke concerns may have been raised to a GP, for example, but were not actioned. Potential clients come to us concerned their GP didn’t refer them for blood pressure management or regular diabetic review sooner.
• Other clients have concerns that the signs of a TIA (mini stroke) were missed and they never had a referral or the opportunity of being examined by a stroke consultant, before they went on to suffer a larger, more devastating stroke.
• We also hear concerns that patients aren’t advised of the risks of suffering a stroke following a medical procedure, and therefore, they had no preventative advice or management to begin with.

Many of our clients have suffered life-changing disabilities as a result of stroke-related medical negligence. While compensation will help them to rebuild their lives following their injury and help them to have the care and support they need, no amount of money can fix their health or turn back the clock.

According to the Stroke Association, every day in the UK, 240 people wake up to the catastrophic impact of a stroke. With stroke being so common, the system as it stands is not able to cope with the number of patients that need immediate attention. There needs to be greater awareness of the signs and symptoms of stroke, and accountability from those who are responsible for ensuring the training, delivery and availability of skilled NHS professionals to make sure patients are not injured due to failures.

We work with charities like Different Strokes, to support those affected and to raise awareness of stroke. Our Manifesto for Injured People also advocates for many issues affecting our clients, including transforming our health services and improving access to vital services.

If you have concerns about the stroke treatment you received, our specialist brain injury and stroke solicitors can speak with you, listen to your concerns and advise you on a potential claim. For more information on claiming compensation for a stroke, please also read our insight and advice page here.