Our client, a 46 year old woman from Canterbury, Kent, was born with a left eye squint which was not fully corrected through surgery as a child.
Whilst accompanying her daughter to an ophthalmic appointment, the staff at Kent & Canterbury Hospital suggested that she might benefit from further squint surgery.
However, the surgeon who carried out the operation failed to perform the important pre-operative botulinum toxin testing, to assess the likelihood of post-operative complications. Such tests would have predicted a poor outcome and the surgery would not have proceeded.
Instead, squint surgery was performed in November 2011, and ultimately left our client with a worse cosmetic appearance and double vision. Our client was also caused to suffer a psychological injury as a result.
The Defendant’s legal representatives sought to deny the claim initially, such that Court proceedings had to be issued. However, following service of our client’s Witness Statement (and in the absence of providing any Witness Statement of their own) the Defendant made their first offer to settle for £17,500.
Further settlement negotiations ensued, such that the claim was ultimately settled in the sum of £23,750.
Alex Tengroth, who had conduct of the claim, commented:
“This was a very unfortunate case, in which our client was persuaded to undergo invasive surgical treatment which was inappropriate and which resulted in a significant worsening of her symptoms.
To compound that negligence, the Defendant sought to deny the claim despite the fact that they clearly did not have supportive evidence from the treating staff involved (as shown by the failure to serve any Witness Statements).
This served to prolong the distress for my client.”