A GRANDMOTHER who was left paralysed after she was taken to the wrong hospital following a stroke has been awarded a seven-figure payout.

A paramedic who assessed Lynn Horner, aged 69, after her stroke decided she was “recovering” – meaning it was more than four hours before she was treated.

North West Ambulance Service (NWAS) bosses have admitted they failed the mother-of-four, who is now confined to a wheelchair and has a reduced life expectancy.

Mrs Horner, a former school cleaner, was 64 and had been retired less than a year when she suffered a stroke in July, 2010.

Her husband David, a retired garage mechanic, said he is “still very angry” about what happened.

The 71-year-old added: “Lynn would have gone back to normal living if she had been taken to the right place and provided with the correct treatment quickly. Instead, she has been left needing daily care and has lost her freedom.

“Simple pleasures like visiting our grandchildren are difficult or impossible now because she’s in a wheelchair and they have steps to their house.

“I still cannot understand how this could have happened.”`

Mr Horner immediately called 999 after his wife suffered a stroke at home in Bolton.

A rapid response paramedic who arrived 10 minutes later confirmed her symptoms, which included confusion and slurred speech, were the result of a stroke.

But an ambulance paramedic who arrived three minutes later assessed Mrs Horner as being in recovery, and a further 20 minutes passed before she was taken to the Royal Bolton Hospital.

Mrs Horner remained at the Royal Bolton Hospital for more than two and a half hours, when it was confirmed she had suffered a right-sided stroke.

She was then finally transferred to Hope Hospital in Salford, now Salford Royal, for thrombolysis treatment to reduce blood clots – arriving there more than four hours after her stroke.

This significantly delayed arrival meant it was too late to provide effective treatment – causing a permanent brain injury.

Since 2008, patients who suffer a serious or life-threatening stroke have been sent immediately to a specialist unit at Salford Royal for quicker access to scans, consultants and treatments.

All Bolton patients who suffer strokes have also been sent to Salford for thrombolysis if it is within three hours of their symptoms beginning since 2010.

Mr Horner said he was told by the paramedic that he did not know which hospital to take his wife to, and there was no blue light used with cars overtaking the ambulance on the motorway.

He added: “I was really worried about Lynn and couldn’t understand why they were being so slow.

“When we eventually got to Hope Hospital having firstly been taken to Bolton I remember one of the medical staff asking what had taken us so long to get there. Lynn will never be independent again, she cannot drive anymore, she needs a wheelchair and help with basic day-to-day things like mealtimes.

“We used to lead an active life regularly going to Cyprus on holiday and spending time with our grandkids, but that has all changed now.”

NWAS NHS Trust accepted the decision to take Mrs Horner to the Royal Bolton rather than Hope Hospital was negligent and in breach of its duty of care.

A seven-figure settlement was awarded to her by the court, party as compensation to cover the cost of care, aids and equipment and for the purchase of a new adapted home.

Bob Williams, chief executive of NWAS NHS Trust, said: “NWAS is very sorry that the care given to Mrs Horner did not meet the standard she was entitled to expect, and for the distress this has caused her and her family.

“In the five years since this incident occurred, the clinical supervision, learning and support given to ambulance crews for stroke pathway patients has greatly advanced.

“In this case, the judge’s observations have been fully and carefully considered.

“The matter of proper compensation for Mrs Horner has now been concluded, drawing to a close what must have been a very difficult time for her and her family.”

Trevor Ward, head of medical negligence at Linder Myers Solicitors, said: “My client was displaying a number of tell-tale symptoms and should have been taken to Hope Hospital within 10 minutes or so of the ambulance arriving.

“Had she been taken to the correct hospital as an emergency case, thrombolysis treatment would have been given and she would not have suffered the extensive permanent neurological damage which has left her in a wheelchair.”