I am looking for more advice from you lovely people regarding my battle with Boots opticians over the poor treatment my mum received at their hands. Having dealt with all my mums medical needs I kept a lot of copies and over the weekend found a copy of her CV1 and a letter that her consultant wrote to her GP and these two things have prompted me to ask the following question.
Is there a length of time MD takes to get to the stage my mum was at or can in happen over a few months? The consultants letter to her GP states that her right eye measured 6/18 and "count fingers" in her left. He starts the letter by saying she has very poor eyesight, then goes on to say she had normal pressures in both eyes and finishes with "this condition will probably not deteriorate significantly from now".
The reason I ask this question is because I am only complaining about her last appt with Boots (approx a month before she was seen by her consultant) so should I also be questioning the appt before that one (approx two months before she saw her consultant) and the one before that, which would have been a year earlier. I have since found out that at my mum's last appt she was seen by a locum so am now asking myself if my mum was failed by not one but by two or more Boots opticians.
It is my intention to scan Boots a copy of both of these documents as I feel they cannot conduct a thorough investigation without this information - any thoughts on this please.
Thanks for reading.
Moggie x
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Moggie
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Dry AMD is related to the ageing process and is more common in individuals over the age of 55 years. The deterioration is generally relatively slow and usually over a period of months and years. However, how fast and how far the condition deteriorates is variable between individuals. There is currently no treatment for it, however, we talk about the importance of various lifestyle considerations which can hopefully have a positive impact on eye health and possibly potentially slow down the deterioration a little.
10-15% of people with the dry type go on to develop wet AMD in the same eye. Therefore it is important that if an individual does notice any sudden eye changes, that they act rapidly and go to the optometrist so that they can check behind their eyes. Alternately, they can attend the emergency eye clinic usually located within the hospital.
If the optometrist identifies possible wet AMD, then the Royal College of Ophthalmology guidelines indicate that they must do a fast track referral on the day of the appointment, via fax or email, straight through to the eye clinic, so that the individual can be seen and treated by 2 weeks. This therefore indicates the urgency of the situation. Treatment is usually via injection. It is wise to check an Amsler grid weekly to help gauge any sudden changes.
Wet AMD can come on very quickly within a day or two and without any warning. Deterioration can be very rapid, hence the Royal College treatment guidelines.
I am copying links to our Guide to AMD and our essential guides to wet and dry AMD:
My mum had the dry eye form so I am assuming that, due to a previous consultant picking this up over 10 years ago when she had a cataract removed (his actual words to her were that she would suffer from MD in the future) and her latest consultant stating that "the condition would not deteriorate significantly from now" she was showing signs of this condition well before her last Boots appointment.
If your mother had been diagnosed with dry AMD over 10 years ago and the consultant had stated that "the condition would not deteriorate significantly from now", it is possible that she was near end stage macular degeneration in that eye i.e. near total central vision loss. Total loss of central vision is the worst case scenario for the macular condition, but individuals usually retain their peripheral vision, unless there are any other complicating eye conditions present e.g. glaucoma.
Presumably from what you wrote above, it is the left eye that had the diagnosis of dry AMD over 10 years ago, as you made a reference to your mother only being able to "count fingers" in one eye.
If for example, your mother had developed wet AMD at any stage in either eye, that could have come on very rapidly, as stated, even within a day or two.
Thank you for that but I still don't quite understand it. Are you saying that the "count fingers" eye is worse than the 6/18 eye??? Are you also telling me that the consultant who said she MAY suffer for MD in the future had already detected it???? or is there a precursor condition before full blown MD???? It was this consultant that did the successful cataract removal.
I think I am gathering from your answers that dry eye MD was also present in her eye appointment with Boots two months before the one I am complaining about as dry eye MD takes months, if not years, to get to the stage my mum was at. Is this right??
Thanks for your replies, as you can tell I am totally confused with all this and am still not sure whether to send copies of her CV1 form or her consultants letter to her GP via scan to the person who is dealing with the Boots complaint. My view is that, unless they have all the correct information they cannot conduct a thorough investigation and until they can do that they will not be able to implement safeguarding guidelines to stop this happening again. I also want something done about the one, possible two, optician's who examined my mum and found nothing wrong. Whether that be further training or reassurances from Boots that they have undergone further assessments on their abilities I am not sure but I don't like the thought that they are still seeing patients on a daily basis without any repercussions.
I can’t help with the AMD issue but certainly the “count fingers” eye will be significantly worse than the 6/18 one. Most healthy eyes are in the 6/6 region give or take 1. The DVLA standard is vision no worse than 6/12. My affected eye is at best 6/19 down on occasion to 6/39, this level is far better than the “count fingers” level which happens with me immediately after a Lucentis injection but clears within a couple of hours.
Thank you so much for that, it has now become a lot clearer. I have decided to scan the documents I have to Boots as, like I have said before, a full and thorough investigation as to what went wrong cannot be conduct without them as they only have my word that my mum had MD.
Yes, as Rennatk rightly said, when somebody can only count fingers in one eye, then that eye is considerably worse than an eye with a visual acuity of 6/18.
To be registered as visually impaired then firstly an individual must have an eye condition in both eyes before they are considered for registration. Therefore, at the point of registration, your mother must have had a condition in both eyes.
Yes, dry AMD deteriorates over months and years. Deterioration is generally relatively slow and there is a gradual accumulation of damage over a period of time. How far and how fast the eye deteriorates is variable between individuals.
Thank you for that. I have informed Boots that I now know that, not only did the last optician get it wrong, the optician who conducted her previous appt two months prior to her last one also was negligent.
Will let you all know what the result of the investigation was and if I am not satisfied with their conclusions and suggestions on how to alter their guidelines so that this cannot happen again I will be taking it further.
Moggie x
Hi Moggie, I've just seen on the Mac Soc FB a reference to a charity called Deafblind UK. Not sure if you'd already mentioned them but might be a useful source of help for you. X
Was in touch with them when my mum was alive but am still waiting for the outcome of Boots own investigation into what happened. Have determined that they are in breach of both the Disability Discrimination guidelines and the Medical Negligence guidelines so will wait and see what they have to say and if I am not satisfied I think I will be getting a solicitor involved due to the seriousness of the matter.
Thanks for thinking of me, I hope you are doing well.
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