Eye Surgery Gone Wrong Claims Guide

By Emily Jones. Last updated 20th April 2023. This is an informative guide looking at the action you could take if your eye surgery has gone wrong because of a breach of duty of care. Medical professionals owe their patients a duty to provide a minimum standard of care. If they breach this duty of care and, as a result, you suffer avoidable harm, you could be eligible to bring forward a medical negligence claim.

Eye surgery gone wrong claims guide

You may wonder, ‘how much compensation could I be eligible to receive for a medical negligence claim?’ As we move through this guide, we will look to answer any questions you have. We will explain how eye surgery could go wrong and how compensation is calculated in a successful claim. Additionally, we will explore the benefits of opting to use a No Win No Fee solicitor.  

Also, at any time, you can contact a member of our team for free expert legal advice. Our advisors are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, to assist you with any queries you may have. They can also provide an assessment of your case to offer insight into the validity of your claim.

You can: 

• Call our helpline on 0800 073 8804
• Claim online by completing the form on our webpage
• Speak with us using the live chat feature

Select A Section

1. A Guide To Claims For Eye Surgery Gone Wrong
2. What Surgical Procedures Could Be Carried Out On The Eyes?
3. How Could Eye Surgery Have Gone Wrong?
4. How To Claim For Medical Negligence
5. Estimated Payouts For Eye Surgery Gone Wrong
6. No Win No Fee Medical Negligence Solicitors

A Guide To Claims For Eye Surgery Gone Wrong

There are various potential ways in which eye surgery could go wrong. For example, you could be the victim of a surgical error, such as wrong-site surgery, where the incorrect eye is operated on.

This could cause avoidable harm to both your healthy eye, which has been operated on and your injured eye, which could worsen due to delayed treatment. This is an example of a never event, which the NHS describes as an incident that wouldn’t occur if the proper frameworks had been followed. In this case, you could be entitled to pursue a medical negligence claim for the avoidable harm you suffered. 

However, not all cases where surgery has gone wrong will mean the patient is eligible to make a claim. A medical professional could have provided the correct standard of care, but another factor caused the surgery to go wrong. In this case, you would not be eligible to make a claim. 

If you would to find out more about pursuing a claim following an operation that has gone wrong, please contact a member of our team. If you have a valid case, you could be connected with a lawyer from our panel. 

What Surgical Procedures Could Be Carried Out On The Eyes?

There are various ways that your eyes could be harmed, such as traumatic injuries, loss of eyesight and conditions such as glaucoma. You may require surgery as treatment. Some of the different surgeries that could be performed on the eyes include:

• Laser eye surgery
• Glaucoma surgery – Trabeculectomy
• Cataract surgery
• Cornea transplant – Keratoplasty 
• Vitrectomy surgery
• Retina surgery
• Eyelid surgery – Blepharoplasty

If you have undergone eye surgery which has gone wrong due to a medical professional breaching their duty of care, which caused you avoidable harm, get in touch with our team of advisors. 

How Could Eye Surgery Have Gone Wrong?

Below, we will provide examples of how eye surgery could potentially go wrong:

• The wrong eye is operated on
• The wrong part of the eye is operated on
• Too much anaesthetic is used, resulting in brain damage
• Too little anaesthetic is used, meaning you wake up in the process of being operated on
• The anaesthetic is administered incorrectly, meaning it is ineffective. For example, you could be administered medication orally that should be given through an IV
• Unnecessary surgery is carried out. This could happen because of another example of negligence, for example, because you were misdiagnosed

All of these examples could cause harm of varying severity. Please contact our team if you would like legal advice regarding claiming for an eye surgery that has gone wrong.

How To Claim For Medical Negligence

You could take several steps to strengthen your medical negligence claim for eye surgery that has gone wrong. One of these is gathering evidence. This will help to prove that medical negligence has occurred and the harm it’s caused you. 

You could: 

• Seek further medical attention for the avoidable harm you have suffered.
• Obtain your medical records detailing your injuries and the treatment you have received.
• Keep a diary of how medical negligence has affected your physical and mental health.  
• Keep evidence of any financial losses you suffered as a result of the avoidable harm. 

Also, we recommend that you seek legal advice. Our advisors can provide this free of charge if you get in touch. Furthermore, if your claim is valid, you could be provided with a lawyer from our panel. 

Time Limit For Claiming For Medical Procedures Gone Wrong

In the sections above, we have discussed the eligibility criteria for making eye surgery negligence claims. Now we are going to examine the time limits in which you must begin legal proceedings.

When making a medical negligence claim for eye surgery that has gone wrong, you will usually have three years to start your claim from the date negligence occurred or from the date of knowledge. The date of knowledge refers to the date you first reasonably realised that the harm you suffered was caused by a medical professional breaching their duty of care.

However, there are certain exceptions to this time limit:

• If a person is under eighteen years of age at the time of the negligence, the time limit is frozen until their 18th birthday. During this time, a court-appointed litigation friend could make a claim on their behalf. From their eighteenth birthday, they will have three years to start a claim if one has not already been made.
• If an individual lacks the mental capacity to make a claim for themself, the time limit is suspended. During this time, a litigation friend could make a claim on their behalf. In the event that they become mentally capable of putting forward a claim for eye surgery negligence, they will have three years from this date to start their claim if one has not already been made.

For further information on making a medial negligence claim and the types of eye surgery that could be carried out, please continue to read our guide for further clarity. Additionally, you can contact our advisors to discuss your potential claim today.

Estimated Payouts For Eye Surgery Gone Wrong

A successful medical negligence case for an eye surgery gone wrong could see you receive up to two potential heads of claim. 

Firstly, you will receive a payout under general damages for the pain and suffering caused by medical negligence if your claim succeeds. This accounts for both psychological and physical harm.

We have compiled a table using guideline compensation brackets for various types of harm from the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG), updated in 2022. Furthermore, legal professionals can also use the JCG to aid them when valuing the general damages head of claim. However, each medical negligence claim is unique. Therefore, these figures should only be used as a guide.

Secondly, you could be eligible to receive special damages. This head of claim accounts for any monetary losses incurred due to the harm that medical negligence caused you. For example, if you are unable to work for a period of time due to the avoidable harm you suffered, you could be reimbursed for the loss of earnings.

Other financial losses for which you could receive reimbursement include: 

• Medical costs
• Travel expenses 
• Care costs
• Home adaptations 

As previously mentioned, keeping proof of any financial losses, such as payslips, bank records and invoices, is important. To learn more about potential settlement amounts, please speak to one of our advisors. 

No Win No Fee Medical Negligence Solicitors

Pursuing a claim alongside a No Win No Fee solicitor could have many benefits for both you and your claim. A type of No Win No Fee agreement called a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA) can help you access a solicitor’s services. It generally means you will not pay for these services upfront, for the duration of the ongoing claim or in the event your claim does not succeed. 

However, if your case is successful, a No Win No Fee solicitor will take a small legally capped success fee. This will be a percentage deducted from the compensation.

Our advisors can offer you a free assessment of your case with no obligation to further your claim with us. However, if they determine that you may have valid grounds to claim for your eye surgery gone wrong, they could connect you with one of our No Win No Fee medical negligence solicitors. 

Please: 

• Call our helpline on 0800 073 8804
• Claim online by completing the form on our webpage
• Speak with us using the live chat feature

Learn More About Making A Claim

Here we have included some of our own guides that could be useful if you endure medical negligence: 

• My Operation Has Gone Wrong, How Do I Claim Compensation?
• Hospital Negligence Solicitors
• Medication Allergic Reaction Compensation Claims Guide

Moreover, we have provided you with some additional reading that could be of use: 

• NHS – Eye injuries 
• General Medical Council (GMC) – Ethical guidance
• GOV.UK – NHS Resolution annual report and accounts 2021 to 2022

We hope this guide on the steps you could take if you have sustained avoidable harm due to an eye surgery gone wrong has been helpful. Please check our contact details if you have questions for our advisors.