£2 Million Settlement Secured for Young Man Following Eye Hospital Negligence

The Kingsley Napley Clinical Negligence Team, including Katie Dean and Eurydice Cote, successfully secured a £2 million settlement in a complex medical negligence claim for a young man who suffered severe visual impairment. 

Our client, who has autistic spectrum disorder, learning difficulties, and epilepsy, sought treatment at an eye hospital in 2020 after banging his head on a door.

The legal claim centred on the alleged failure by the hospital to provide timely and appropriate treatment – specifically that our client should have undergone an urgent examination under anaesthetic to remove a left-sided cataract and then also to treat a retinal detachment in the left eye on a preventative basis. Similarly, there should have been a quicker diagnosis of a right retinal detachment leading to corrective treatment.

Early in the case, the defendant admitted breach of duty in relation to both eyes acknowledging that earlier treatment would have led to better outcomes. However, they later went on to bring several arguments that our client would have suffered from vision loss even with earlier treatment, including that there was a long-standing retinal detachment and that continuing headbanging behaviour would have posed a significant ongoing risk of retinal damage.

This case was particularly challenging because our client already required substantial care before the alleged negligence occurred, receiving around 260 hours of support each week. Our legal team had to carefully demonstrate which care needs resulted specifically from his vision loss, rather than his pre-existing conditions.

Expert evidence was obtained across multiple specialities including ophthalmic surgery, psychiatry, care and case management, occupational therapy, accommodation, assistive technology, deputyship, and life expectancy.

The case settled for £2 million which recognised the profound impact of the medical negligence on our client’s life whilst acknowledging the complexities surrounding causation and the distinction between pre-existing and additional care needs.