A man’s life has been changed forever after contracting an eye infection, that blinded him, from a dirty hospital room.
The patient was given an eye injection in an ‘insufficiently’ clean room at Cheltenham General Hospital.
The complaint led to an investigation by the hospital that found that the dirty room was used for all eye procedures, including injections, and that thousands could be affected.
Over 9,000 treatments are carried out every year in the room. Several more people have come forward after contracting serious eye infections after being treated at the hospital.
In January 2016 an incident review report found that the room where patients were being treated was not a dedicated room. The room was used for clinics in the morning and the level of cleaning was insufficient.
The report continued to say that deep cleaning of the room had lapsed and the area around the sink was cluttered with equipment, the theatre light was dusty and there was a lot of dust collecting on surfaces around the room.
Lawyers working on behalf of the blind patient, have seen a letter, sent just last month, from a Consultant Ophthalmologist that raised concerns about other treatment areas in the department.
The NHS trust provides services for macular degeneration, diabetic macular oedema and retinal vein occlusion. All conditions that impact older people.
A spokesperson for Gloucestershire Hospital NHS Foundation Trust said: “Endophthalmitis is a rare but recognised complication of this procedure and we acknowledge the serious impact of this infection on the patient concerned.”
“We are committed to maintaining the highest possible standards of safety for our patients and when we conduct investigations of this nature, we are unwavering in our desire to put into practice any lessons that we can learn to further improve our services”, continued the spokesperson.
