A diabetic woman has received a £27,500 settlement from the NHS after routine laser-eye surgery that ‘burned’ her retina nearly caused her to go blind.
Lesley Horrocks, 68, a former nurse, claims she was undergoing a routine procedure for diabetic retinopathy in February 2013 when the incident occurred.
East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust, which includes the Royal Blackburn Hospital, where Ms Horrocks’ procedure was performed, have paid her a settlement, but not admitted liability, after firing a laser beam at her leaking blood vessels.
Ms Horrocks’ lawyers also claim doctors failed to apply test exposures before carrying out the surgery.
Left with severely blurred vision, Ms Horrocks, a widow, from Clitheroe, Lancashire, is now forced to wear sunglasses at all times and feels robbed of her independence after being left too afraid to leave the house.
Although injections directly into the eyeball could help restore her sight, Ms Horrocks found the stabbing pain too excruciating to endure.
Ms Horrocks is speaking out in the hopes of stopping this accident from affecting other people.
Lesley Horrocks has received a £27,500 settlement from the NHS after routine laser surgery ‘burned’ her retina and nearly caused her to go blind, leaving her feeling trapped
Ms Horrocks is now forced to wear sunglasses at all times due to a burning sensation in her eye
‘I struggle doing the things I used to love’
Speaking of her experience, Ms Horrocks, who has one son, Phillip, 45, said: ‘As well as losing my sight, I really feel as though I’ve lost a lot of my independence.
‘I find going out in public very hard, as I’m scared I’ll bump into people or have an accident.
‘I struggle doing the things I used to love, such as walking my dog, reading, watching TV and even painting my nails.
‘I have to wear sunglasses, even when it’s snowing outside, because the brightness hurts my eyes.’
‘I’ve finally been able to come to terms with losing my sight’
After receiving mixed opinions about whether she required laser-eye surgery, Ms Horrocks had her last procedure in February 2013.
Since then Ms Horrocks, whose husband Jim died aged 58 on Christmas Day 2005 after a cancer battle, has been unable to focus on objects at any distance.
She said: ‘I now have to be careful when going up and down stairs, as I cannot focus on the steps properly.
‘I wish I’d learned to drive, as I have no chance of ever doing that now.
‘I have to rely heavily on my son to get me to hospital appointments and to do my shopping.
‘He’s been a godsend over these past few years, but it really hasn’t been easy on either of us.’
As a result of her experience, Ms Horrocks asked Fletchers Solicitors to bring a claim against East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust.
She said: ‘I didn’t want this happening to anyone else.
‘I’ve finally been able to come to terms with losing my sight and now I can begin to move on.’
Mixed opinions on her need for eye surgery
Since her type 2 diabetes diagnosis in 1994, Ms Horrocks has required regular eye screenings.
In May 1998, she was advised to have laser eye surgery at Manchester Royal Eye Hospital, which is not involved in the legal action, after leaking and bleeding had been discovered behind her eye.
Ms Horrocks had successful laser surgery three times to both eyes, between 1998 and 2003, at Manchester Royal Eye Hospital.
Monitored regularly over the next eight years, she was told no further treatment was necessary.
Yet, in October 2011, Ms Horrocks was transferred to the Royal Blackburn Hospital for her regular check-ups.
A year later, laser surgery was recommended on her right eye to stem bleeding that was occurring at the back.
She had the procedure on November 6 2012 before returning to the hospital six weeks later for a follow-up consultation.
After being told she required regular monitoring, doctors discovered her right eye was deteriorating and another session of laser surgery was recommended.
Ms Horrocks feels she has lost her independence as her blurred vision makes her vulnerable
Ms Horrocks is speaking out in the hopes of stopping this accident affecting other people
‘I can’t describe the pain. It was that horrific’
Speaking of the procedure, Ms Horrocks said: ‘I had the surgery on February 22 2013 and it was noted that there was risk of damage to my central vision.
‘My sight usually returned within a few hours after previous procedures, but this time was different.
‘I was really concerned that my vision wasn’t coming back after the surgery. I knew that it would be blurry for a few hours, as that had happened before.
‘But as the days passed, I was really struggling to see anything out of my right eye. There was a grey patch across the centre of my vision that wouldn’t shift.’
Six days later, while at a routine check-up, Ms Horrocks’ vision remained blurred.
Almost two months after the surgery, Ms Horrocks claims doctors discovered a deep collection of blood vessels, which had formed around her retina, were causing permanent damage to her right eye.
She said: ‘I was advised to have a cycle of injections of lucentis into my right eye, to deal with the haemorrhage by slowing it down and help restore my vision.
‘I needed one injection every month for three months.
‘But they were excruciatingly painful. I can’t really describe the pain. It was that horrific.
‘Incredibly nervous, I was told I needed more anaesthetic drops to numb the pain than any other patient.
‘I couldn’t see the needle, but I could definitely feel the pressure of it going into my eye and could feel a severe, stabbing pain.
‘Despite having the full course of injections, I didn’t see any improvement and started to face the realisation that the damage was probably going to be irreversible.’
Trying to remain optimistic, Ms Horrocks began another course of injections in June 2013, having the sixth and final one in her right eye in August 2013.
She said: ‘The pain was so intolerable that I declined any further injections.
‘Instead, my condition is now being monitored by Manchester Royal Eye Hospital every couple of months.’
‘We rely on our eyes for so much’
Dr Damian Riley, medical director for East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust said: ‘We aim to provide a safe, personal and effective service to all our patients. For the vast majority of the 700,000 people we treat each year, that is the case.
‘Unfortunately, on a very small number of occasions things don’t go as expected.
‘Here at East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust, we place great importance on learning from mistakes, and we proactively share that learning with staff throughout the Trust.
‘We wish Ms Horrocks well in the future’
Fiona Swarbrick, senior solicitor at Fletchers, added: ‘Losing your sight would be an extremely daunting experience for anyone – we rely on our eyes for so much.
‘We’re just glad that the resolution of her case has allowed her to move on and get her life back on track. We hope that the compensation can go some way towards helping heal the pain that has been caused.’