Can I Claim Compensation For Negligent Eye Treatment?

Have you suffered avoidable harm due to negligent eye treatment after a medical professional provided substandard care? If so, you could be entitled to make a medical negligence claim. 

Within this guide, we include information on the eligibility criteria that need to be met before a claim for clinical negligence can be made. You can also find information on how to gather evidence to support a claim and how an expert solicitor from our panel could assist you with building your case. 

We also provide examples of how negligent treatment to the eye could occur and the impact it could have, such as scarring, partial blindness or complete loss of sight. In addition, we show the way in which medical negligence compensation payouts are calculated in successful claims.

For more information, you can get in touch with our team of advisors. They can answer any questions about medical negligence claims and assess your specific case for free. To reach out, you can:

• Call on 020 3870 4868
• Talk about your claim online
• Use the pop-up chat window in the corner

Select A Section

1. A Guide To Negligent Eye Treatment Claims
2. How Could Negligent Eye Treatment Occur?
3. Can Evidence Help You Claim Compensation?
4. Examples Of Payouts For Negligent Eye Treatment
5. How Medical Negligence Solicitors Could Help You
6. Learn More About Claiming For Medical Negligence

A Guide To Negligent Eye Treatment Claims

All medical professionals, including ophthalmologists, owe a duty of care to their patients. This duty requires them to provide the correct standard of care. Failure to do so could lead to negligent eye treatment.

However, in order to make a medical negligence claim, you need to prove:

1. A medical professional owed you a duty of care.
2. The medical professional breached their duty. 
3. This breach caused you to suffer avoidable harm. 

What Is The Medical Negligence Time Limits?

In addition to proving the criteria above, you need to ensure your medical negligence claim is started within the relevant time limit. As per the Limitation Act 1980, this is generally three years from the date medical negligence occurred, or the date you became aware it occurred. The latter is called the date of knowledge.

However, there can be exceptions to the limitation period. For example, if the injured person is under the age of 18, or the claimant lacks the mental capacity to bring forward their own case, the time limit is paused. A suitable adult can apply to act as a litigation friend and start the claim on the claimants behalf while the time limit is paused.

If no claim is made on behalf of a child by the time they turn 18, they have three years from this date to start legal proceedings themselves. If the person with reduced mental capacity recovers this capacity and no claim has already been made for them, they will have three years from the recovery date to do so themselves.

To find out whether you’re eligible to claim for negligent eye treatment and how long you have to do so, please speak with our team by calling the number above.

How Could Negligent Eye Treatment Occur?

Below, we have provided examples of how an ophthalmologist could breach their duty of care leading to avoidable eye injuries from negligent eye treatment. 

• A patient visits A and E with severe eye pain, redness in the white of the eye, and extreme sensitivity to bright light. The doctor fails to to consider endophthalmitis, a condition that involves the fluid or tissue inside the eye becoming infected. The patients is sent away with antibiotics for an eye infection. As this condition needs immediate treatment the patient receives delayed treatment and a delayed diagnosis leading the patient to suffering loss of vision in both eyes.
• A patient may have required vitrectomy surgery to treat problems with the retina and vitreous. However, during the surgery, the ophthalmologist slips and the small instrument used for the procedure stabs them in the eye. As a result, they are left with partial sight loss and severe scarring due to negligent eye surgery.
• A GP may have failed to correctly identify clear symptoms of eye melanoma, a type of eye cancer, and didn’t refer a patient to a specialist. As a result, they don’t receive any treatment and their condition worsens.

Please get in touch to find out what could be classed as medical negligence and when you could potentially seek compensation following incorrect treatment for an eye condition. An advisor can assess whether you’re eligible to make an eye surgery claim, or another type of claim for a negligent eye injury.

Can Evidence Help You Claim Compensation?

In order to make a medical negligence claim for negligent eye treatment, it’s important that you have evidence. If you obtain evidence, you can prove that a medical professional breached their duty of care and that you suffered avoidable harm as a result. 

Here are a few helpful examples of evidence you could gather:

• • Medical evidence – This can include test results, scans, and doctor notes.
  • Independent medical report – You’ll be invited to attend an independent medical assessment as part of the claims process. This can produce a medical report giving an in-depth insight into the impact the medical negligence has had on you.
  • A written account – Keep a diary of what happened and any symptoms that are affecting you.
  • Witness details – Collect the contact information of anyone who was with you during your appointments. 
  • Visual evidence – Take photographs of any visible harm, such as scarring around the eye from negligent surgical procedures. 

The Bolam Test may also be considered when determining liability. This is when a panel of relevantly trained medical professionals assess your case to determine whether the correct standard of care was given. The findings of this assessment can be used to support your case.

One of the No Win No Fee medical negligence solicitors from our panel can assist eligible claimants with gathering evidence as part of the services they offer. Get in touch with our advisors today for more information on proving medical negligence in compensation claims and find out whether an expert solicitor from our panel could assist you. 

Examples Of Payouts For Negligent Eye Treatment

Compensation payouts awarded for successful negligent eye treatment claims can be made up of potentially two heads of claim. These two heads of claim are general and special damages. 

General damages compensate for the psychological and physical impacts of medical negligence.

When general damages is being calculated, your medical reports can be looked at alongside the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG). The JCG is a publication that contains guideline compensation amounts for different types of injuries and illnesses. 

Compensation Table

The table below has some figures taken from the JCG. The table’s top figure however does not appear in the JCG.

Also, as medical negligence compensation claims are calculated on a case-by-case basis, this table should be used as a guide only. 

Harm Type	Severity	Description	Amount
Multiple serious injuries and/or illnesses plus financial losses	Serious	Compensation for multiple serious injuries and/or illnesses plus monetary expenses, such as lost income, care costs, and travel costs.	Up to £1,000,000+
Sight	(b) Total blindness	Loss of sight in both eyes.	In the region of £268,720
	(c) Loss of sight in one eye and reduced vision in the remaining eye (i)	The eye in which the sight remains is at risk of further deterioration, going beyond a risk of sympathetic ophthalmia.	£95,990 to £179,770
	(c) Loss of sight in one eye and reduced vision in the remaining eye (ii)	Reduced vision in the remaining eye and/or other issues, such as double vision.	£63,950 to £105,990
	(d) Total loss of one eye	The award given will depend on age, cosmetic effect, and any psychological issues.	£54,830 to £65,710
	(e) Complete loss of sight in one eye	The award given considers the risk of sympathetic ophthalmia.	£49,270 to £54,830
	(f) Serious vision loss in one eye that isn't complete	No significant risk of vision being lost or reduced in the remaining eye.	£23,680 to £39,340
	(g) Minor but permanent vision impairment in one or both eyes	There is some double vision which might not be constant.	£9,110 to £20,980

Can You Be Compensated In Other Ways?

Special damages compensate for the financial costs and losses that medical negligence has caused you to incur. 

Here are some examples of monetary losses that could be claimed back in successful medical negligence compensation claims:

• Medical costs, such as the cost of prescription medication or eye tests, contact lenses, or glasses.
• Loss of earnings.
• Travel costs.

Keep hold of documents, such as receipts and payslips, to present as evidence when seeking compensation for losses under special damages. 

If you get in touch with our experienced team, they can tell you more about how much compensation could be awarded in a successful negligent eye treatment compensation claim. 

How Medical Negligence Solicitors Could Help You

One of the biggest advantages of working with a medical negligence solicitor from our panel is that you can do so on a No Win No Fee basis. The specific form of No Win No Fee contract that they offer is called a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA).

With a CFA in place, you are not required to pay anything upfront or during the claims process to your solicitor in order to receive their services. This also stands if your claim isn’t successful.

Instead, if you do have a successful ophthalmic negligence claim, a success fee from your compensation is taken. The success fee is a legally capped percentage. The cap ensures that you are awarded the majority of your overall settlement.

Contact Us

If you have received negligent treatment and want to know how medical negligence claims are made, get in touch with our advisors today. They could connect you with a specialist solicitor from our panel who could give you further advice and help you begin the process of claiming compensation on a No Win No Fee basis.

You can get in touch with our team for a free consultation at any time that is best for you via the contact details below:

• Call on 020 3870 4868
• Talk about your claim online
• Use the pop-up chat window in the corner

Learn More About Claiming For Medical Negligence

More of our guides relating to medical negligence claims:

• Learn if you could claim for pharmacist negligence and the steps you could take to secure a settlement.
• If you need examples of types of medication errors that might form the basis of a valid compensation claim, this article may be useful to you.
• Find out how to report a doctor for medical negligence in this guide.

Information from other sources: 

• A guide on eye injuries from the NHS.
• Information on good medical practice for doctors from the General Medical Council.
• Learn about the NHS Constitution for England from GOV.UK.

If you have any other questions about claims for negligent eye treatment, call our helpful team using the number above.