A HUSBAND whose wife has been left permanently disabled following a delay in diagnosing a life-threatening brain condition says his family are "heartbroken".
Janice Millward, from Uckfield, was diagnosed with viral encephalitis nearly a week after being admitted to Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton.
The 69-year-old spent around seven weeks in intensive care and 18 months in brain rehabilitation units before being admitted to a care home where she remains.
Janice, a mum-of-two and grandmother-of-three, has severe cognitive and communication problems, is unsteady on her feet and needs help in all aspects of caring for herself.
Her husband of 50 years, Brian, 70, said his wife was an active and “incredibly sociable person” whose life “revolved around her family and friends.”
Brian, a former IT consultant, said: “Our family hasn’t been the same. The decision to put Janice in a care home was heartbreaking.
“We really want to bring her home but an appropriate care and rehabilitation package would need to be in place in order to do so. We visit her as often as we’re allowed but this has been made particularly hard over the last two years due to Covid.
“We knew nothing about encephalitis when Janice was taken ill. Had we known then what we know now, we’d have asked more questions and pushed for further investigations to be carried out.”
Brian has instructed expert medical negligence lawyers at Irwin Mitchell to investigate her hospital care and fund the specialist care and therapies she requires.
University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation has admitted partial liability on behalf of the former Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust.
It admitted that it failed to diagnose Janice’s encephalitis three days earlier, and a delay in commencing antiviral medication.
However, the Trust argues the delays were not responsible for Janice’s severe brain damage and she wouldn’t have made a full recovery. With proceedings served on the Trust and the case heading to the High Court, Brian believes earlier treatment could have pretened Janice from suffering extensive brain damage.
He said: “The damage to Janice’s brain happened in just a matter of days but is irreparable. We believe earlier treatment could have prevented “We hope that by speaking out we can in some way help raise awareness of encephalitis and prevent others being left in the same situation.”
Janice complained of having a headache and feeling nauseous on March 27, 2018, and was taken to the GP the following day by her daughter Joanne.
Janice was referred to the Princess Royal Hospital in Hayward’s Heath.
Doctors believed she may have suffered a stroke or an infection and required a CT scan.
The lift at the hospital was broken so she was transferred to Royal Sussex County Hospital.
Doctors considered she may have had a central nervous system infection but continued to treat her as if she had suffered a stroke. Janice’s condition continued to deteriorate and she was transferred to intensive care following a seizure.
Following an MRI scan of her brain and lumbar puncture she was diagnosed with encephalitis.
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