Beverley pensioner who lost sight in one eye after hospital follow-up 'fell off radar' awarded £80,000

The pensioner should have had a follow-up within six months after being seen by eye specialists at Hull Royal Infirmary, where he was treated after a fall.

But neither he nor his GP was told and no arrangements for the review were made when he was discharged to a care home for rehabilitation.

Almost a year later in January 2018 he went to see his optician with “fogged” vision and was told he had advanced glaucoma in his right eye.

He could only see “hands movements” meaning he could detect the presence of an object, but not see any clear definition.

Although there is currently no cure for glaucoma, prompt treatment can help slow or stop the progression of vision loss.

He said: “My eyesight just gradually got worse, but because I have such good eyesight in my left eye, it compensates for it and so it was not immediately noticeable, I just found myself struggling to focus on things.

“When I went to the optician he said my right eye was on a one way course to blindness, and that there was not a specialist in the world who could reverse it by that stage.

"Now when I close my left eye I can only see darkness, as the right eye doesn’t work at all.

“I’ve had to adapt and I do struggle with close focus. I have medications that I have to pour out and measure, and that is a real struggle.

"I’m lucky to have such good vision still in my left eye. If that was to get worse I’d really struggle.”

He said he was pleased with the outcome – and was going to take a cruise.

Solicitor Matthew Gascoyne, from Hudgell Solicitors, which won an out of court settlement, said if the man had been given eye drops between February 2018 and February 2019 his eyesight would not have suffered as much.

He said: “This was a case of miscommunication, and also failure to ensure follow-up examinations were carried out.

“It is something we see too often, where a specialist records the need to review a patient by a certain timeframe to check for serious conditions, but then it simply doesn’t happen.”

Mr Gascoyne said they see a number of cases of follow-up appointments “falling off the radar” and advised: “Don’t wait for the letter or call that never comes if you have been told at some stage that you need seeing and reviewing again."

A spokesperson for Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust said: “The Trust would like to apologise once again for the care this patient received. We have learned lessons as a result of this case.

“We are pleased that the case has now been settled and would like to pass on our sincere best wishes to the claimant.”