The family of a woman who died from meningitis after her symptoms were repeatedly dismissed by doctors is preparing to take legal action against the NHS trust its members hold responsible.

Karen Finan fell ill on April 12th and her husband Darren called her GP for a home visit. He diagnosed gastroenteritis and said she would soon recover.

However, her symptoms worsened and she began to suffer with a fever and severe headaches, the Daily Mail reports.

Despite Mr Finan calling out another doctor, his wife was still not diagnosed and the family was told to "stop fussing" and put her to bed where she would recover.

The young mother’s condition worsened and she eventually slipped into a coma. Although she was rushed to hospital, her brain had swollen and the decision was made to switch off her life support machine five days after she first fell ill.

"They say with meningitis that every hour is critical – the longer they misdiagnosed Karen the more she was slipping away from us. We have been robbed," said Mr Finan.

A spokesperson for NHS Wakefield said the trust is investigating the incident and the proposed legal action from Ms Finan’s family.

According to statistics published by the Meningitis Trust, 500,000 people in the UK have had some form of meningitis at one time in their lives.