spec savers failed to inform of a bleed behind the eye

gemmy26wales

hiya, keeping this short but basically my mam is diabetic. she has a bleed behind the eye which she was aware of.

she went for a rountine eye test with spec savers and the bleed was not picked up.

i asked at a different branch if it would be picked up and they said yes.

i emailed spec savers head office-they informed the optician who rang my mother and said the reason he did not tell her about the bleed was so she did not worry herself about it as it is not of a concern!!!!

theres a few more bits which i wont go into.

just want to know if its worth reporting him to the health trust!!!

thanks guys xxx

xocbc

I'm surprised your local NHS don't have their own eye screening for diabetics. Mine does.

mountainofdebt

How was your mum aware of the bleed originally?

tbh I doubt very much whether the health trust would be interested but if you feel a complaint is warranted then I think you you should either follow Specsavers compliant proceedure (but bear in mind Specsavers are nothing more than a franchise) or report them to the registering body of opticians.

pmduk

The NHS screening for diabetics does not replace a normal eye test. It is an additional examination including a digital photograph of the retina to identify early changes caused by retinopathy.

I'm surprised your local NHS don't have their own eye screening for diabetics. Mine does.

blue_haddock

I'm diabetic and have my annual diabetic eye test at the same time as my normal one at my local opticians. Diabetic Retinopathy is very serious and so i would look into taking this further and once the damage is done it cannot be undone.

tidus

Was this a full diabetic screening (ie eye drops in, photo taken) as required yearly by the NHS? Or just a "regular" eye exam like anyone would have? Diabetics are supposed to have the former yearly, either with a local registered optometrist or at hospital/in a mobile unit. They should also have a normal eye examination at regular intervals too.

If it was the former the photos should show a retinal bleed provided it was within the range of the camera. Action may or may not be taken depending on the severity of the bleed - it may not have required any further action, or even mentioning.

If it was a "regular" eye examination (not necessarily using drops or photography) a small bleed could easily be overlooked. That does not mean the optometrist was incompetent. Unless she has come to some harm, nobody will be interested in this. The other branch should not have assured you that it "should" have been observed - that depends on its location, its size etc.

I doubt any formal action will be taken if you try to make some sort of complaint. Did your mother actually come to any harm? Did she even say she had a bleed?

dunclane

tidus wrote: »

I doubt any formal action will be taken if you try to make some sort of complaint. Did your mother actually come to any harm? Did she even say she had a bleed?

I was wondering the same, whats your end goal for this? If I knew I had a bleed behind the eye I would have mentioned it at the time.

neilmcl

I don't get this either. You already said that your mother was aware of the existing condition, presumably prior to the appointment, so now that you've managed to catch out the optician what exactly do you want to achieve.

Darksun

You could make a complaint to the General Optical Council if you're concerned.

http://www.optical.org/

That's assuming the optician in question is registered with them, I don't know if it's compulsory.

gemmy26wales

hiya, thanks for all the replies. the reason im angry is that the optician felt it was not worth acknowleging the bleed behind my mother's eye. during the phone call he told her that the bleed is not severe enough to warrant being informed of.
it was a normal nhs eye test and she did have the camera pic to see the back of her eye.

my annoyance is the fact that allot of diabetics do not go to their regular check ups...i know this is their fault but my mother could of been one of these people and without the proper care and treatment this condition can leed to blindness.

for the people that are questioning my post...no my mother did not say anything...he is the professional and should of picked it up.
in my opinion the optician should have informed my mother or gp of what he saw.
she had her diabetic screening 2 weeks later and they have now referred her to the specialist as it has deteriorated. so for the optician to with hold the information i find terrible. he also lied on the phone about not mentioning to people if they have the start of a catarct so not to worry the patient!!(sorry cant spell), even though my dad who had his done the same day was told by the opticain that he has the start of it.

im just concerned for other people going to see this optician. my boyfriend has also had issues with this particular branch...god i do sound like a right complainer! im really not im just annoyed about the way she was fobbed off on the phone!

OlliesDad

If it was an NHS test would he not have already known about the bleed from her notes? Maybe that's why he didn't mention it.

Or maybe it was the fact she already had another appointment planned for 2 weeks time?