Taking Boots to task

[Moggie]

Hi All,

I haven't posted on here for a while so for those who don' t know me I will give a quick recap.

I posted for help for my mum who was already profoundly deaf and then was diagnosed with Macular Degeneration. I battled for over three months to get her the help she needed but in the end she just gave up and died four months after the diagnoses. Being deaf and almost blind just seemed to knock the stuffing out of her and she gave up the fight. She actually died of cancer but I think she would have battled on if she felt she had something to live for but not being able to read, watch her beloved t.v. or even cook for herself anymore was just too much.

Rewind 4 months previous and, as she was having trouble with her sight, she went back to Boots opticians to be checked over (she had only been there two months previous). They did the normal tests which then resulted in them saying that she needed to be referred to the local hospital. We waited patiently for her referral letter to arrive but after a month of waiting I phoned Boots myself only to be told that because she was deaf they could not get my mum to understand that they needed her permission to refer her to the hospital and because she hadn't given her permission no referral had been done. My mum had been mentioning macular degeneration over the past month and I put this to the manager who dismissed this and said they had picked up cataracts, which my mum was over the moon about as, having had two previous cataracts operation, she knew her sight would be restored.

We, the family, decided not to wait for Boots referral so she went private and that is when the macular degeneration was picked up. She was absolutely devastated as, unlike the Boots diagnoses, she knew things were only going to get worse. She had very limited sight in one eye and the other one was not much better.

I tried my best to get her as much help as I could but everything went down hill from there and, like I said, she died 4 months later.

I have now put in a formal complaint to Boots as I just cannot live with the thought that the next deaf person that walks into this branch would get the same treatment as my mum. I find it unbelievable that because she was deaf she did not receive her much needed referral and why, with all their top of the range equipment, was her macular degeneration not picked up, worse still she was misdiagnosed. This is not going to help my mum but I need to do this for people who are not only deaf but are suffering from MD as it is obvious that Boots do not have the equipment and/or their staff do not have the skills to recognise this illness.

Any help or pointers on my quest would be appreciated, especially if Boots (who are supposedly doing an internal investigation) come back with a lame excuse as to why this happened. Who can I take this complaint to if the answers I receive from Boots are not satisfactory.

Thanks for reading.

Moggie x

[Hidden]

Condolences moggie xxx

You are absolutely right to complain.

My suggestions are:

1. Start at the very top re Boots. Ie Company Chairman/ C.O.O. and also a non executive director ( you should be able to Google info to see which one fits as they usually state their interest/ responsibility).CC to the branch. Doesn't matter you've already started at branch level but this time for the top bods letter gather info on their failings to comply with external requirements ( or at least ask the question are they complying with any such and ask they prove it to you. Ask how they will prevent it happening again).

2. I don't recall having to give permission for the hospital referral but even so it's difficult to believe they couldn't have communicated with her. They managed to give her appt info. If nothing else point out common sense suggests they should have contacted her gp. My optician is Asda and they diagnosed me without any fancy kit.

3. Google the Royal College of Opthalmologists. Ring and ask them what should have happened put this in letter if useful and CC your complaint to them if you feel there was a failure by the individual optician .

4 I'm not sure if PALS cover non NHS but I'd send to them too on the basis that at minimum the communication interface between Boots &NHS needs looking at.

5. Contact the biggest deaf and sight loss charities too asking them to comment on what they feel should have happened etc. CC them in letter. Ask them to develop best practice guidelines for places like Boots if doesn't already exist.

6. Find who is the highest " disability" champion / minister and CC them. Also your local mp

7. Google the 'Disability Discrimination Act'- don't know if it just covers employment but it might cover service providers. Use any relevant bits in your complaint.

8. CC to Jeremy Hunt, refer to recent Mac Soc petition on appt availability and point out the need to get referred into the system first. Ask if Boots have complied with their licence / duty of care as providers of opthalmology service to the public.

9. Ring the Care Quality Commission and see if they have a role to play.

10. I presume Boots are ISO quality management accredited. Find out which one ( they should have it to tell you the number). Google doc, look for any bit that looks like it should have covered what happened to your mum and reference those sections in your complaint ( or point out if the disability comms issue isn't covered). CC to the ISO accreditor to highlight the failings .

11. Google Boots shareholders CC your complaint to biggest group/ s pointing out potential future liability of failure happening again and asking that they use their influence to help to improve situation for the future.

Good luck ! Xx

[Moggie in reply to Hidden]

Thank you so much for all this info - I knew this site, and all it's wonderful members, would come up trumps. I will work my way down your list one by one and let you know the outcome. It must have taken you an age to type all that so that you very much.

I know I am right to complain. Social Services were appalled at the level of service my mum received at the hands of Boots and urged me to take it further. With everything going on with my mum I had neither the time or inclination then but now I am going to do all I can to stop this happening to anyone else.

Thank you once again

Moggie x

[Jbenson in reply to Hidden]

I quietly follow this site and I would like to say a big thank you to Eyesright you always reply with good helpful and factual advice. If ever I needed to go into battle,metaphorically speaking, I would definitely like you on my side.

[Moggie in reply to Jbenson]

Well said. It was Eyesright that helped me so much when I was getting in a muddle with social services, doctors etc when my mum was alive and without help like this I doubt very much I would have gotten very far. A gem of a member in my book.

Moggie x

[Moggie in reply to Hidden]

I have achieved the first task and have contacted a Jonathan Gardner - MD for Boots Optical - and copied him the original complain letter as well as the GOC guidelines on referrals, which I might add that Boots failed on every front. Will let you know what this brings. Must say that going on all these optical sights are very confusing but am slowly getting my head around it and am determined to see this through.

So number one on your list is ticked off and will now start looking at the next mission on your list.

Thanks again

Moggie x

p.s. this is the sentence of the guidelines that really hit home to me how negligent Boots was concerning my mums treatment.

Every registered dispensing optician has a statutory duty to immediately

refer a patient to a registered medical practitioner or directly to a hospital for

appropriate medical advice if it appears that a patient is suffering from disease

or injury of the eye.

[Hidden in reply to Moggie]

Well done Moggie x

ps the list isn't in any order ( & 1,2,7,10 could be combined) sorry if that was unclear, but as you unearth more info you will have it ready to reply/push on any inadequate response from Boots.

[Moggie in reply to Hidden]

No I know it wasn't in a strict order but, like they say on Tipping Point, I will start from the top and work my way down the list.lol. I have had a reply from Mr Gardner, who has now passed it on to an Elizabeth Baven who is their clinical care manager. She has just emailed me to introduce herself and I have asked her for further information i.e. the name of the optician and a full copy of my mums notes as "I may need these to accelerate the case further". Lets see what that does. Hopefully Boots will handle this complaint in a sensible and correct manner and I will not feel the need to contacted a higher body but I am not holding my breath on that.

Moggie x

[RosMacularSociety Partner]

Dear Moggie,

It may be worth consulting with Deafblind UK:

deafblind.org.uk/

One option could be to contact the General Optical Council:

optical.org/

Kind regards,

Macular Society

0300 3030 111

[e-mail]

[Moggie in reply to RosMacularSociety]

Thank you for the info, I will definitely be contacting the general optical council to get their views and advice on this situation.

Moggie x

[Ayayay80]

Dear Moggie

Sad news indeed!

[Moggie in reply to Ayayay80]

Thank you for that - sorry for late reply but not been well all weekend and have not checked my emails.

Moggie x

[yotboy]

Superb set of replies with what to my inexperienced appraisal looks a good way to go. Over a significant number of years I have learned I have learned to NEVER rely on third party action. If some one says they are going to talk or write to someone else and I am to wait a response from that third party, ALWAYS follow up. Pester them - find out names (often of secretaries) and pester them as well until you can trace the progress.

You have to assume that there is a good possibility that YOUR bit of paper is going to fall through the cracks.

[Moggie in reply to yotboy]

Hi,

It has not fell through the cracks yet as it is now in the hands on head office who are investigating!!!!!! I had the distressing task of having to obtain a copy of my mum's death cert so that they would deal with me - data protection gone mad.

Thanks for the reply.

Moggie x

[SYLKE]

I am sorry to read of your mum's passing, my condolences to you and your family.

When the lady at Specsavers found a bleed at the back of my eye 2 years ago she said she had to refer me to the hospital as she had a duty of care to do so and that is exactly what she did.

Regards

Sylvia

[Moggie in reply to SYLKE]

That's interesting. So you are saying that, even without my mum's permission, they should have automatically referred her. I will certainly be taking this up with them.

Thank you for your input, and your condolences, they are much appreciated.

Moggie x

[maryparry]

Utterly devastating. I have had bad experiences with chains of opticians too and now only go to an independent They 'Boots' should be slated for this. It is outrageous and heartbreakinbg. So sorry.

[Hidden in reply to maryparry]

Dear Maryparry.

I do not trust many opticians, independent, or larger companies. Unfortunately, I was diagnosed with macular degeneration last October, but not told what my condition was by Specsavers. I was just given an Amsler grid and told to check to see if any of the lines were broken, if they were I was to go back to them. It took Google search engine, plus paying privately to see a retinal surgeon to confirm my diagnosis. Be very careful, and very vigilant when dealing with opticians!

[Moggie in reply to Hidden]

That's terrible - did you complain???

Moggie x

[Moggie in reply to maryparry]

Thank you for that. Like you I have had bad experiences from the big chains so also only go to my local independent opticians. They may cost more but you get what you pay for.

Moggie x

[JJnan]

My heartfelt condolences to you Moggie. i went to specsavers and told them i had wavy lines. they immediately faxed eye clinic and explained about AMD, shame on Boots!!! Excellent advise from Eyesright and Rosalyn on your case, best of luck xxx

[Moggie in reply to JJnan]

Thank you for your condolences. Reading all these replies, although they are wonderful, are making me so mad as I now know what Boots SHOULD have done and just how negligent they were. Over the next week or so I will be going through the list of organisations Eyesright has kindly given me for advice and to how far I can take this.

Moggie x

[Hidden in reply to JJnan]

Be very wary of Specsavers, they certainly did not refer me anywhere and I could see wavy lines!!

[Lizjim]

In January 2017 during a routine eye test at Tesco optician was told I had a bleed in my right eye and would be referred to eye clinic. I was not asked for permission just told what was to happen . Just over a week later I was diagnosed with wet MD . I am very grateful to my optician as I was unaware of any problem with my sight . I am shocked at this treatment your mother received from Boots and hope you get some answers on your mothers behalf .Keep up the fight and safe someone else having to endure this neglect . Good luck.

[Moggie in reply to Lizjim]

Thank you for your reply. Stopping anyone receiving the same treatment as my mum is my main objective and one I can only hope I will achieve.

Moggie x

[Moggie]

I would like to thank everyone who commented on my post. As always your answers were supportive, informative and very helpful. The information I have received will not be wasted as I plan to take Boots all the way with this complaint in the hope that the next person, deaf or not, that goes into that opticians will get the care they need and deserve.

Will post again once I have got something to report. Without people on here I think I would just have written to Boots and left it at that but now I am angry about the treatment my mum received so the further I can take this the better.

Thank you all once again.

Moggie x

[Catseyes235]

I'm sorry to hear about your mother's death and thank you for continuing to get answers and the truth about good and correct practice.

It sounds like they were stupidly trying to cover their backs and had not made the referral properly. I had nothing to sign when optometrist referred me through my doctor to local eye hospital. Did your mother's doctor receive a letter? I was not asked to sign anything. However it was a second opticians that referred me as had very bad treatment from regular one. The awful thing is they sent the usual online questionnaire about how they had done and despite everything still had no apology . Those questionnaires are designed to be ignored.

I'm sure there must be a code of conduct.you can refer to and it would be good if someone could check this for all our sakes.

wish you all the best for getting answers and apologies from Boots.

[Moggie in reply to Catseyes235]

Thanks for the comment. I want more than an apology from Boots. I want a thorough investigation into their procedures when dealing with a deaf person so this cannot happen again and I want answers as to why her MD was not picked up. I will be looking at all the suggestions that Eyesright has sent me as I would like Boots to get a slap on the wrist from a higher body and not just an internal investigation done by them so that it can be swept under the carpet. My complaint to them is in and I will wait to see what excuses they come up with before telling them that I intend to take this further.

No my mum's doctor did not receive anything from Boots as I was down as he contact. I got on very well with her doctor, after a bumpy start, so he would have phoned me and talked it over with me if he had received any sort of communication from them.

Thanks for your kind words and suggestions. The more people that answer my post the more I am realising how appalling my mum was treated by Boots.

Moggie x

[Catseyes235 in reply to Moggie]

Hope you get satisfaction. My oldest brother is blind from Macular developed before treatments available. I've been quite shocked at how thoughtlessly he can be treated and the assumptions that all blind people read Braille if he needs infirmation or they say they will send him a form to fill in! Good luck!

[Moggie in reply to Catseyes235]

My mum used to get similar with her deafness. People would ask for her phone number and say they would contact her by phone!!!!!! I think the worst incident was when my dad was dying as the doctors totally boycotted her and would ask me questions until one day I got very annoyed and told them "she is his wife, ask her, she will lip read you". You expect the general public to be ignorant but not doctors.

Thanks for your comments.

Moggie x