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A UK hospital who missed an opportunity to treat a serious eye condition have paid £8000 compensation pay out to the patient.
The incident has reportedly left the patient in question with “probable permanent and irreversible” eye damage.
The patient was diagnosed diabetic and as such should have been receiving annual screenings at a clinic un by Western Sussex Hospitals NHS Trust.
The report says that the trust failed to provide the service for almost two years.
By the time the screening took place damage to the inside of the eye was seen and she was re-tested the next month. At this stage macular disease was identified and was no longer treatable.
The reports findings were that the NHS Trust had not acted in line with national guidelines that demanded screening be carried out every 12 months.
The patients macular disease was inadequately investigated as a scan was not used to take a very detailed picture of the inside of the eye.
When the condition was diagnosed by the Trust, they missed an opportunity to provide treatment that would have stabilised or even improved eyesight.