National Eye Health Week: the importance of regular eye examinations

Posted: 27/09/2024

National Eye Health Week is an annual event dedicated to raising awareness about the importance of eye health and the need for regular eye examinations. The campaign aims to highlight the significance of early detection and prompt treatment of potentially sight-altering conditions.

Regular eye exams are crucial in detecting various eye problems, such as glaucoma, cataracts, and age-related macular degeneration (AMD), in their early stages. Early detection allows for prompt intervention and treatment, which can significantly improve the chances of a positive outcome and help preserve vision.

Neglecting regular eye exams can lead to the progression of eye conditions, some of which can cause significant and permanent sight loss. For instance, wet AMD, a chronic form of macular degeneration, can cause rapid and severe vision loss if left untreated. Regular eye examinations can help detect such conditions early, enabling prompt treatment and the best chance of maintaining good vision. Experts recommend that a patient referred urgently for suspected wet-AMD should be examined within two weeks of the referral in order to allow timely treatment and prevention of irreversible visual loss.

However, unfortunately, some patients who are aware of the importance of eye exams and attend their opticians regularly can suffer sight loss, either because of the nature of their condition or, sometimes, because of failures by their treating ophthalmic clinicians leading to sight-limiting conditions going undiagnosed or untreated. In such cases, it is essential to seek legal advice to ensure that appropriate action is taken to prevent further harm.

Arran Macleod, a solicitor in the clinical negligence team at Penningtons Manches Cooper, comments: “We have accepted several instructions recently relating to delays in diagnosis of sight limiting conditions which, if diagnosed and treated sooner, would have resulted in a better visual outcome for our clients. 

“One recent instruction relates to a delay in diagnosis of a client’s wet-AMD. Despite regular appointments with her optician and, indeed, referral by the optician to her local hospital eye department for suspected wet-AMD, the treating ophthalmologist failed to conduct appropriate imaging of our client’s eye and failed to diagnose her condition. She was reassured and discharged without treatment but, several months later, experienced almost complete loss of central vision from one eye. The failure of the ophthalmologist to perform appropriate imaging and diagnose and treat her wet-AMD in a timely manner resulted in our client’s avoidable sight loss.” 

How Penningtons Manches Cooper can help

Penningtons Manches Cooper has extensive experience in handling ophthalmology claims and supporting patients who have sustained injuries as a result of medical negligence by helping them to understand what has happened and exploring the options for improving their clinical outcome and obtaining compensation for their injuries through the claims process.

Members of the specialist ophthalmology team have a deep understanding of the medical and legal issues involved in complex clinical negligence claims and are able to advise in relation to a diverse range of issues, including:

• failure to identify/remove a foreign body;
• delay in diagnosis of macular degeneration;
• failure to diagnose tumours affecting the optic nerve;
• inappropriate treatment; and
• failure to manage the risk of glaucoma in diabetics.

Half of all sight loss is avoidable. National Eye Health Week serves as a crucial reminder of the importance of regular eye examinations in maintaining good eye health and detecting potentially sight-altering conditions at an early stage. Promoting the campaign's aims and encouraging regular eye exams will help more people become aware of ‘red flags’ that could signal an eye emergency.

This article was co-written by Astor Chan, trainee solicitor in the clinical negligence team

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