A VULNERABLE stroke victim sent home from hospital by doctors ended up in a high dependency unit less than 24 hours later.

Shari McLachlan was rushed to Inverclyde Royal after being found unresponsive at her Greenock home last Wednesday.

Her sister Lynda Canary says she was very distressed, saying she wanted to end her life, but waited four hours to see a doctor before being discharged.

Only hours later she was re-admitted and hooked up to oxygen after suffering a series of seizures.

Her heartbroken sister fears she has suffered brain damage and is demanding answers over her treatment.

She said: "She has never said she wanted to end her life, so there was no doubt in my mind that there was something wrong.

"The doctor just wasn't interested.

"I pleaded with the doctor to keep her in but the questions she was asking my sister were unbelievable.

"I am devastated by the way she has been treated and don't think she would have been so ill if she had been kept in hospital."

Shari was rushed to hospital after police broke into her home when she pressed an medical alert button.

Officers notified social workers, who contacted her sister and she made her way to IRH.

Lynda, 58, said: "I got there about 6.30pm and at that point Shari started crying, was really agitated and took my hand and wouldn't let me go.

"Shari said 'I don't want to be here, I want to end it.

"It was very distressing."

Shari, 48, has a history of alcohol issues but held down a job as a paralegal before being made redundant only weeks before suffering a stroke last June.

She had stopped drinking for nine months but began again after her physiotherapy and speech sessions were cut back.

The sisters waited until 9.30pm before Shari was seen by a doctor.

Lynda, of Wellpark Buildings, said: "She said to her 'if you wanted to take your life why did you press the emergency button?'

"I was flabbergasted."

During this time Lynda got a call to say that her granddaughter had been admitted to the Children's Hospital in Glasgow, and pleaded with the doctor to keep her Shari in because she wouldn't be able to take her home.

She was told there was nothing wrong with her sister and that she would be discharged.

Lynda, who works for the Royal Bank mortgage centre, said: "I left the hospital at 10.15pm and I got a call from Shari at 5am in the morning, saying she was on the couch and couldn't move."

Shari was subsequently admitted to high dependency, only hours after being discharged from the hospital.

Lynda said: "The doctor told me she was having seizures and it took them several hours to get them under control.

"I was shocked at the state she was in when I saw her.

"She had on an oxygen mask and there was blood all down her face and neck, it was horrible.

"The doctor said they had found high salt levels in her blood and were trying to get to the bottom of what had happened."

Shari's condition improved enough to allow her to be moved into ward J South ward on Friday and she currently remains in hospital.

Lynda said: "I visited and she was trying to take the oxygen mask off and rip the cannula out of her arm and trying to get out of bed.

"There are not enough people in that hospital to help patients - the staff are run ragged and I don't think they have time to care.

"They are looking at Shari as someone who is a drunk.

"I don't think she is getting treated seriously at all.

"She has worked all her days and deserves better.

"She is worse now then when she had the stroke, she talks the way a baby talks and she is delirious."

NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde today responded to the complaints made by Shari's sister by saying they would be open to meeting them to discuss the situation.

A spokeswoman told the Telegraph: "We are sorry that the patient’s family are unhappy with the patient’s treatment.

"We would welcome the opportunity to meet with them to address their concerns.

"We have reviewed this patient’s notes and can confirm she was fully assessed in the emergency department.

"Following her re-admittance she continues to be assessed and appropriate diagnostic tests have been undertaken."