Ms D should have been screened annually for eye damage caused by diabetes (diabetic retinopathy) at an eye clinic run by the Western Sussex Hospitals NHS Trust (the Trust). However, the Trust failed to provide this for almost two years. When she did have her appointment, damage to the inside of her eye was seen and she had another test the following month. This showed a condition called macular disease (the macula is the central part of the eye responsible for fine vision), which the Trust said was no longer treatable.
We found that the Trust did not act in line with national guidelines, which say that screening should be carried out every 12 months. They did not adequately investigate Ms D’s macular disease because they did not use a scan to take a very detailed picture of the inside of her eye. We also found that they did not adequately diagnose Ms D’s macular disease, because they said it could not be treated, when in fact treatment was available.
We could not say whether earlier screening would have revealed Ms D’s macular disease. When the Trust diagnosed her condition, they missed an opportunity to give her treatment that would have stabilised or even improved her eyesight. Instead, Ms D was left with eye damage that was probably permanent and irreversible.
The Trust agreed to write to Ms D to acknowledge and apologise for their failings and pay her £8,000 in compensation. They took steps to improve their screening service, including compiling a database of all diabetic retinopathy patients and ensuring that referrals from the screening service were monitored by the Trust’s eye clinic. They made sure that all patients suspected of having macular disease were given proper scans.