AN OXFORDSHIRE man is claiming damages from a Kent hospital trust for failing to treat his wife’s stroke despite the couple diagnosing it themselves.

Timothy Owers, 48, of Woodbridge Close, Aston, is suing Medway NHS Foundation Trust and the NHS Commissioning Board after his wife Karen died in August, aged 46.

The trial at London’s High Court is focused on the diagnosis and treatment she received after being taken to Medway Hospital by ambulance with a suspected stroke on March 14, 2010.

The mum-of-one was left severely disabled, largely confined to a wheelchair and unable to care for her husband and son or return to work following the alleged negligence, said her widower’s barrister, Gerwyn Samuel.

He said Mrs Owers, then 42, “presented to hospital after self-diagnosing a stroke in accordance with the Government and NHS’s television campaign”.

But he said members of the stroke team at Medway Hospital “failed to assess her properly” and discharged her later that day.

Mr Samuel argued the “system for stroke assessment and diagnosis” at the hospital was “fundamentally flawed and compounded the sub-standard treatment”.

He told Mr Justice Stewart: “It is beyond belief that non-medically qualified employees are tasked with diagnosing and excluding strokes, especially when time is of the essence regarding treatment options and the outcome can be so devastating.”

The sequence of events began on March 13, 2010, when the couple and their son Jake visited Mr Owers’ parents in Hoo St Werburgh, in Kent, the High Court heard.

During the journey there, Mrs Owers developed a headache and woke up the following day with itchy and painful eyes.

As well as claiming damages on behalf of his wife’s estate, Mr Owers is seeking compensation for his own post-traumatic stress disorder and psychological injuries.

The trust and the commissioning board dispute the timing of the onset of Mrs Owers’ symptoms and deny liability in the case.

The hearing continues.