Specsavers admit fault and pay compensation for medical negligence

Digby Brown’s medical negligence solicitors help a woman secure compensation and an admission of liability from Specsavers after they initially argue that a delay in treatment made no difference to the outcome.

Medical negligence by Specsavers

Despite 4 visits to the optician in 11 days, the opticians failed to detect that our client was suffering from a detached retina.

“Each time I went, they kept saying it was fine, but I couldn’t see out of 50% of my eye.

“I requested to be referred to the eye clinic but I was told that I would get an appointment in 8-9 weeks – by that time I could have been blind.

“In the end, it was my GP who referred me immediately to the Eye Clinic.”

What the medical negligence by Specsavers means for our client

This delay in diagnosis means our client suffers from permanent distorted and reduced vision in her left eye.

“It’s a challenge all the time. I never have a balanced focus and this can make some everyday tasks more difficult, at home and at work.”

Specsavers said ‘the optometrist has done everything he should have done”

When our client went to visit the store to discuss what had happened, they refused to look into the matter and admit any fault. They simply said ‘the optometrist had done everything he should have done’.

Making them take responsibility for negligence

Our client firstly made a formal complaint to the General Optical Council which lead to a hearing and a damning report into what happened.

Medical negligence claim for compensation

Our client was initially reluctant to begin a medical negligence claim for compensation but her friends and family encouraged her to do something.

She didn’t want to go through the litigation process as she had bad experience of solicitors in the past and partly hoped that her eyes would improve in time, which they didn’t.

“For me it was never about the money, I trusted the optician as a professional but he didn’t do his job.

“He was negligent and I felt he should face up to what he had done. Specsavers couldn’t just ignore what had happened to me as a result of their employee’s incompetence”

“They needed to face up to the impact of what they did”

Couldn’t pursue medical negligence claim on her own

Our client initially tried to pursue a medical negligence claim on her own as a result of bad experience with solicitors in the past.

However, when she tried to get a specialist report, it was very expensive and they wouldn’t do it as she was not a solicitor.

Local solicitor recommended Digby Brown

Local solicitors advised she may have a case but they didn’t have the people or resources to take it on and recommended Digby Brown.

Digby Brown cared about my case

“Digby Brown were much better than my experience with solicitors before. My solicitor Ruth was fabulous and very supportive – she wanted them to appreciate the damage they had caused me.

“The claims process was relatively easy, I left it in the hands of Digby Brown and they did most of the work.”

Digby Brown guided me through negotiations for compensation

Digby Brown’s specialist medical negligence solicitors consulted our client every time an offer came in and would give their recommendations. The decision to accept or reject any offers ultimately came down to our client

“The advocate and Ruth would consult with me when an offer came in and give me their thoughts and I made the decision, we worked as a team and they guided me through it.

“The compensation we achieved was much more than I expected."

“For me, the best thing about the process was Specsavers admitted they were in the wrong.”

“They backed down and paid up which they should have done long before.”

“If they had said at the beginning that they were sorry and would look into it, I would not have started a claim for compensation. It was the fact when I went back after I had been diagnosed and went to hospital, they were awful to me and said they did everything right and denied any responsibility.”

Digby Brown's medical negligence solicitors

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