Every year, millions of people in the UK go into surgery under the care of both the NHS and the private sector. Operations often successfully treat many eye conditions, including glaucoma and retinal injuries, but what happens when they go wrong? In this guide, we’ll tell you everything you need to know about eye surgery negligence claims.
First, we’ll talk about what medical negligence actually is, and when you can claim for it. Then, we’ll answer some frequently asked questions surrounding the question of compensation, how eye surgery negligence can occur, and how it can affect you.
Finally, our guide will cover everything you need to know about starting a claim, from gathering evidence and finding the right solicitor to understanding No Win No Fee agreements.
Contact Us
We hope that our guide will answer any questions you might have about making an eye surgery compensation claim, but don’t worry if you still need more information; our advisors are here to help. Get in touch today to speak to a member of our team by:
- Calling us on 0800 073 8804
- Using the live chat feature
- Contacting us online
Frequently Asked Questions
- Can I Claim Compensation After Negligent Eye Surgery?
- What Is The Average Compensation In Eye Surgery Negligence Claims?
- What Can My Eye Surgery Negligence Payout Help With?
- Common Examples Of Eye Surgery Gone Wrong
- What Impacts Can Ophthalmic Negligence Cause?
- How Can I Prove A Claim For Eye Surgery Negligence?
- Can I Claim On A No Win No Fee Basis?
- More Information
Can I Claim Compensation After Negligent Eye Surgery?
You can claim compensation for negligent eye surgery if you can prove that you were harmed because your surgeon or another medical professional breached their duty of care. But what exactly does this mean?
Essentially, a duty of care is a legal responsibility for someone else’s health and safety. It’s a term used in a lot of different kinds of claims, but in a medical setting, it means that the professional treating you needs to provide care that meets a certain standard.
All medical professionals owe this duty of care to their patients. They might need to take different steps to meet the accepted standard expected of them, but the standard remains the same. For example, the Royal College of Surgeons provides guidance on the steps they should take to meet this standard, whereas nurses or oncologists can find information tailored to their roles from other organisations.
So, if a medical professional breaches their duty of care and this causes avoidable harm, then this is known as medical negligence. Essentially, this is the eligibility criterion for making a claim.
Can I Claim If My Procedure Was Done On The NHS?
It doesn’t matter whether you had your procedure as an NHS or private patient; you have a right to compensation if your circumstances meet the eligibility criteria outlined above.
For example, someone getting a cosmetic eye procedure like an eyelid surgery from a private clinic would have the same rights as someone getting a glaucoma surgery on the NHS: As long as negligence occurred, you could claim.
Am I Able To Claim On Behalf Of A Loved One?
Yes, you can make eye surgery negligence claims on behalf of others by applying as a litigation friend. This role is responsible for handling claims for minors and those who are mentally incapacitated, as both groups cannot legally seek compensation on their own.
If you are interested in acting as a litigation friend or if you’d like to learn more about eligibility for medical negligence claims, contact our team of advisors today. Or, you can keep reading to learn about compensation payouts for surgical errors.
What Is The Average Compensation In Eye Surgery Negligence Claims?
The average compensation for eye surgery negligence can fall anywhere between £493,000 and £2,690, according to the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG). This is a document that provides guideline compensation brackets as a reference for solicitors and other professionals when calculating general damages.
Those damages are the first of 2 potential heads of medical negligence compensation. This head covers your pain and suffering, and the ways in which your quality of life has been affected.
In the table below, you can find more figures from the JCG. Please note that the first entry in this table isn’t from the publication, and these amounts are not guaranteed.
| Harm & Severity | Compensation |
|---|---|
| Multiple Severe Instances of Harm Alongside Special Damages, Including Lost Earnings and the Cost of Private Medical Treatment | Up to £1,000,000+ |
| Total Blindness | In the region of £327,940 |
| Loss of Sight in One Eye with Reduced Vision in the Remaining Eye (i) | £117,150 to £219,400 |
| Loss of Sight in One Eye with Reduced Vision in the Remaining Eye (ii) | £78,040 to £129,330 |
| Total Loss of One Eye | £66,920 to £80,210 |
| Complete Loss of Sight in One Eye | £60,130 to £66,920 |
| Eye Injuries (f) | £28,900 to £48,040 |
| Eye Injuries (g) | £11,120 to £25,600 |
| Minor Eye Injuries | £4,820 to £10,660 |
| Transient Eye Injuries | £2,690 to £4,820 |
How Is Eye Surgery Compensation Calculated?
Eye surgery compensation is calculated with a number of factors in mind, including:
- The severity of the harm you suffered
- Whether your ability to work has been impacted
- What disabilities you now have, such as blindness
- Whether you sustained related financial losses
In the next section, we explore how eye surgery negligence claims can help you recoup financial losses. If you’re ready to get started, you can contact our team today for a free case assessment.
What Can My Eye Surgery Negligence Payout Help With?
An eye surgery negligence payout can help you cover your financial losses under special damages, which is the second head of compensation that you can pursue. For example, you could claim for:
- Lost earnings, including future projected losses
- Extra childcare
- Mobility aids, like a cane or a seeing-eye dog
- Braille lessons
- Home adjustments, such as grab rails and non-slip safety flooring
- A carer or full-time nursing care
- Private medical care, prescriptions, and other medical expenses
It’s important to note that you need proof of your losses to claim under this heading. To do this, you can use financial documents like receipts, bills, and invoices.
Our team are happy to help. Get in touch today to learn more about making a medical negligence compensation claim.
Common Examples Of Eye Surgery Gone Wrong
Some common examples of eye surgery gone wrong include:
- Misdiagnosis: For example, your doctor confuses common symptoms of a brain tumour with an eye condition. Consequently, you have to undergo totally unnecessary surgery on your eye while your brain cancer remains untreated.
- Incompetence: Your surgeon should provide you with a standard of care that meets a reasonable level of competence and skill. A surgeon who fails to do so may not use their instruments properly, leading to a scalpel slip that causes you to lose your vision completely.
- Wrong-site surgery: Despite having the correct eye clearly marked, your surgeon operates on the wrong eye. This failure causes permanent damage to your vision, and the delay allows the damage to your other eye to worsen.
These are only a few examples of how medical negligence can occur during eye surgery. However, it’s important to note that not all eye surgeries go wrong because of medical negligence. If you’d like to find out more or whether you could be eligible to make a claim, talk to one of our advisors today.
What Impacts Can Ophthalmic Negligence Cause?
Ophthalmic negligence can have a range of negative impacts, affecting your physical and mental health as well as your finances. These consequences can sometimes be far-reaching and life-changing, including:
- Loss of vision and blindness, which otherwise could have been avoided
- Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety, depression, and other psychological injuries
- Serious facial scarring
- Significant present and future lost earnings
- Changes to your day-to-day life, like needing to get a new job or being unable to enjoy your previous hobbies
Medical negligence can affect everyone differently, but we are here to help, no matter your circumstances. Speak to one of our advisors to find out if you could make a claim for eye surgery negligence.
How Can I Prove A Claim For Eye Surgery Negligence?
One of the most important steps in eye surgery negligence claims is having sufficient proof to support your case. You can do this by collecting evidence like:
- Photographs of visible harm, like scarring from surgery being performed in the wrong place
- Medical records and hospital charts that show the treatment you received
- The contact details of witnesses, like an appointment chaperone
- Scans or test results that show a clear misdiagnosis caused by negligence
- The results of an independent medical assessment that detail how you have been harmed both physically and mentally
We understand that this step of the process can seem daunting, but our team are here to help. If you choose to work with one of our expert solicitors, then they can help you explore every potential avenue of evidence to build the strongest claim possible.
Keep reading to learn more about how one of our medical negligence solicitors could help, or contact us today to get started.
Can I Claim On A No Win No Fee Basis?
At Legal Expert, you are our priority. From your first free consultation to your final meeting with your solicitor, we are committed to providing high-quality, client-first services. The proof is in the over £80 million of compensation we’ve already recovered for people all over the country.
Our solicitors have decades of combined experience handling medical negligence claims. Moreover, they believe that no one should be priced out of getting the representation they deserve, which is why they operate on a No Win No Fee basis.
You might have heard this term used before, but what does it actually mean? In our case, No Win No Fee means that our solicitors work under something called a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA). Under this agreement, you get access to all of their expert services without paying for them:
- Upfront
- As the claim is ongoing
- At all if your claim fails
So, if you don’t get compensation, then you don’t pay for your solicitor’s work. If you win your claim, then your solicitor will take a success fee as payment for their services. This small percentage of your compensation is capped by law, ensuring you keep the majority share.
Speak To Us
Are you ready to get started? Do you want to learn more about our medical negligence solicitors? We are here to help. To learn more about making eye surgery negligence claims with one of our No Win No Fee solicitors, get in touch today by:
- Calling us on 0800 073 8804
- Using the live chat feature
- Contacting us online
More Information
For more information on making a medical negligence claim:
- Learn how to claim compensation for wrongly prescribed antidepressants
- Get information on the average payout for cancer misdiagnosis
- Find out if you can claim for a missed lumbar fracture
Or, to get further resources:
- The NHS has resources on blindness and sight loss
- Additional NHS guidance on supporting people who are blind or have sight loss
- Statistics from 2022/23 on the number of people in England registered blind or partially sighted
Thank you for reading our guide on eye surgery negligence claims.
