Our client, Mr DT, aged 84, attended hospital for visual field testing which showed more defined inferior visual field loss in his left eye, although the visual fields were fine in the right eye.
Arrangements were made in that clinic for our client to be seen in six months’ time with a repeat visual field test. This appointment never materialised and our client wrote to the hospital asking if he had “slipped through the net”. Our client was seen sixteen months after his initial appointment and was advised he would be seen again in nine months’ time.
Ten months later, our client wrote to the hospital again reminding them that he had been due a review in the Glaucoma Clinic. He was seen over four months later and was referred to a specialist for consideration of left cataract surgery and / or epithelial graft. He saw the specialist nine months later where changes were noted in the maculas of both eyes. He was urgently referred to the Medical Retina Clinic. He was seen a month later and was noted to be suffering from longstanding wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD) in left eye with poor vision. A few months later our client was advised the condition was no longer treatable and his reduced eyesight would be permanent.
A Letter of Claim was sent to East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust. Liability was initially denied by the Trust and lengthy negotiations followed. Due to robust medical arguments submitted on behalf of our client, eventually the Trust conceded and admitted liability. Settlement was achieved in the sum of £74,500.