A man lost his eye due to NHS failures in treating an eye infection, causing him significant distress and leaving him unable to work or drive, an investigation by the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman has found. Failure to diagnose and treat Eric Stevenson’s eye infection meant that it became untreatable and, as a result, he had to have one eye surgically removed.

His wife, Mrs Stevenson from Cumbria, brought a complaint about North Cumbria University Hospital Trust to the Ombudsman in September 2018 after she felt that the Trust’s own investigation failed to recognise several mistakes in her husband’s care.

Eric Stevenson, who was 66 and a software engineer, went to his GP in September 2016 with problems with his vision in his left eye. He was referred to the Trust’s ophthalmology clinic where tests showed that his vision in his left eye was impaired. It was also inflamed and he was given eye drops to treat the inflammation. Four days later, the Trust tested his vision in his eye again and although it had got worse, the Trust told him to continue using the eye drops.

Mr Stevenson went back to the Trust in October and was given steroid medication, but at an appointment three weeks later tests showed his vision had got even worse. The Trust decided not to send Mr Stevenson for surgery to diagnose the problem, and told him in December to continue using the steroid medication.

In January 2017, Mr Stevenson asked to be referred to another Trust which found that his eye was so severely infected, the only option was to remove it.

Even though Mr Stevenson’s medical records showed he had recently been treated for a blood infection and he had clear signs of an eye infection, the first Trust failed to diagnose and treat it properly. Instead, he was given steroid medication which was ineffective and can make infections worse.

The Ombudsman found that if the Trust had correctly diagnosed his eye infection, it could have treated it sooner and saved his eye. Knowing that this could have been avoided caused Mrs Stevenson considerable distress.

Rob Behrens, Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman, said:

‘Doctors and nurses do a vital job caring for hundreds of thousands of patients under enormous pressure. But as this case shows, it is essential that the NHS learns from mistakes to prevent the same things from happening to others.

‘Losing an eye was understandably very traumatic for Mr Stevenson. The fact that this happened because of failings in NHS care, is inexcusable.

‘The Trust has now acknowledged that it was at fault and made changes to ensure that this does not happen again.’

Mrs Stevenson said:

‘Losing his eye had a huge impact on Eric and the last few months we had together before he died. The whole experience wore him down as he wasn’t able to work or drive and he was reluctant to go on day trips we had planned together.

‘The change I saw in him before and after the operation was huge and very upsetting for our daughters.

‘This must not happen to anyone else. I hope that lessons have been learnt and that other trusts realise they must take patient’s complaints seriously.’

Stephen Eames, Chief Executive at North Cumbria University Hospitals NHS Trust said:

‘I wrote to Mrs Stevenson in January offering her our unreserved apologies and I would like to reiterate our apologies again.

‘The care provided to Mrs Stevenson’s late husband fell below acceptable standards and we have carried out a full investigation where learning was identified and shared with the team.

‘I would also like to offer assurance that we are acting on all of the Ombudsman’s recommendations.’

Following the Ombudsman’s investigation the Trust wrote to Mrs Stevenson to acknowledge and apologise for the failings in her husband’s care. It outlined improvements that have been made, including changes to referral processes and making sure patient history records are available at appointments. At the Ombudsman’s recommendation, the Trust also made a payment to Mrs Stevenson in recognition of the injustice she suffered as a result of its failings.

Eric Stevenson passed away in September 2017 for reasons unrelated to his eye infection and operation.

-ENDS-

Notes to Editors:

1. The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman provides an independent and impartial complaint handling service for complaints that have not been resolved by the NHS in England and UK government departments. We look into complaints where someone believes there has been injustice or hardship because an organisation has not acted properly or has given a poor service and not put things right. We share findings from our casework to help Parliament scrutinise public service providers and to help drive improvements in public services and complaint handling.
2. Part of the new corporate strategy for 2018-21 is to increase transparency and the impact of our casework. This case summary forms part of an interim measure to move towards publishing the majority of our casework on our website over the next three years. Sharing insight and learning from our casework will help to improve public services.

El Diputado del Común, Rafael Yanes, acompañado por la adjunta especial de Igualdad y Violencia de Género, Beatriz Barrera, visitó las instalaciones de la Asociación de Familiares y cuidadores de enfermos de Alzhéimer y otras demencias de Tenerife (AFATE), para conocer de primera mano el servicio que prestan a sus usuarios, al tiempo que sus demandas y necesidades.

Fueron recibidos por ...

The Catalan Ombudsman has suggested that the necessary legal and political measures be taken to make a 50% reduction in the electricity bill for domestic purposes, that is, in the electricity supply contracts for home consumption.

The proposal, included in a new report of the Catalan Ombudsman, focuses mainly on distributing proportionally and fairly between all types or uses of consumption (domestic, industrial, services, etc.) charges not related to the expenses directly attributable to supply or consumption. They are concepts that are outside the contracted service, such as the commitment of remuneration for renewable energies and cogeneration or the rate deficit, and represent about 70% of the total amount that must be paid.

This is also the case of the tax on electricity generation (technically called tax on the value of electricity production), that next April, after six months of exemption decreed by the Spanish Government to modulate the increase in the price of electricity, will be added to the electricity bill. In this sense, and beyond increasing the bill by 4%, the Catalan Ombudsman, Rafael Ribó, has warned that this measure goes in the opposite direction of the recommendations included in the report. In fact, this is a topic on which the Catalan Ombudsman already intervened in November 2015, when he requested that the concepts other than consumption and imposed by the Administration be excluded from the bill.

The report, delivered to Catalan Parliament on Wednesday, March 27, 2019, makes a diagnosis of the current situation from analyzing the cost of electrical energy based on the three contributing components with a similar relative weight in the final amount of the bill: the electricity that is consumed properly, the cost of which is derived from the resulting price in the wholesale market, where generators and traders negotiate energy sales daily; the second component, which are the access tolls that serve to pay, on the one hand, regulated system costs such as transport and distribution of energy, but also other non-supply-related expenses, such as subsidies to renewable generation or financing of the rate deficit (energy policy decisions), and, finally, taxes imposed to the consumer (such as electricity tax and VAT).

As far as taxation is concerned, it is proposed to reduce the tax burdens that are no longer justified, such as the electricity tax, and bring the VAT of 21% to a reduced rate, similar to that applied by nearby countries. Other measures that are proposed are to remove the concept of rent from the invoice counter, since it is not economically justified (lack of cost-benefit analysis).

Other issues

With regard to the electric social benefit, the Catalan Ombudsman recommends to the State Administration that the procedure for the application and renewal of the social benefit be redefined, taking into account the rights of vulnerable people and the principles of administrative simplification.

Likewise, the Administration should take the appropriate measures for the regulatory development of Law 24/2015, which should include the establishment of a model of report of social services to determine if the person or the family is in one of the situations of risk of residential exclusion determined by the Law. The institution also reminds the obligation of public administrations to act against criminal conduct regarding electricity networks and the duty of distribution companies to inform the administrations of irregularities they detect.

Lastly, and for cases of vulnerable squatters, the Administration should conduct a socioeconomic study to determine whether the illegal occupation is out of necessity and, if appropriate, provide the right solution.

Am 31. März ist der Internationale Tag der Sichtbarkeit von trans* Menschen, der „Transgender Day of Visibility“ (#TDOV). Weltweit finden verschiedene Veranstaltungen, Aktionen und Demonstrationen statt, um trans-Personen und ihre Themen sichtbar zu machen sowie für Akzeptanz, Anerkennung und gleiche Rechte zu kämpfen. Der Trans Visibility Tag soll aufzeigen, dass trans-Personen ein Teil der Gesellschaft, aber immer noch von Ungleichbehandlungen und Diskriminierungen betroffen sind.

Zur Pressekonferenz unter anderem mit der Leiterin der Antidiskriminierungsstelle des Landes Schleswig-Holstein, Frau Samiah El Samadoni sowie Vertreterinnen und Vertretern von trans- Organisationen aus sieben Bundesländern am

Freitag, 29. März, 16 Uhr im Garbesaal des Gewerkschaftshauses, Legienstraße 22, 24103 Kiel

sind Vertreterinnen und Vertreter der Medien herzlich eingeladen.

Cathrin Ramelow, Tsepo A. Bollwinkel und Rebecca Jäger berichten über Probleme mit dem Transsexuellengesetz (TSG). Das TSG schreibt bis heute die doppelte Begutachtung zur Änderung von Vornamen und Geschlechtseintrag vor. Noch heute steht im Gesetz, dass man sich einer Zwangssterilisation unterziehen muss. Lediglich die Anwendbarkeit dieser Vorschrift wurde 2011 durch das Bundesverfassungsgericht für rechtswidrig erklärt.
 

Der Polizeivollzugsbeamte Joschua Thuir fragt sich, warum trans-Personen immer noch für den Polizeidienst als untauglich eingestuft werden.

Die bayerische Landtagsabgeordnete Tessa Ganserer kämpft aktuell um die Anerkennung ihres weiblichen Vornamens durch die dortige Landtagsverwaltung.
Die Leiterin der Antidiskriminierungsstelle Samiah El Samadoni berichtet aus der Praxis der Antidiskriminierungsstelle von Benachteiligungen und Barrieren, welchen trans-Personen im täglichen Leben begegnen sowie zu Handlungsbedarfen in Schleswig-Holstein.

Diese und weitere Personen mit trans-Hintergrund stehen Medienvertreterinnen und -vertretern für Gespräche zur Verfügung.

On 15 March 2019, the ‘Principles on the Protection and Promotion of the Ombudsman Institution’, (“The Venice Principles”) were adopted by the Venice Commission.  The Venice Commission is the Council of Europe’s Commission for Democracy through Law providing legal advice to its Member States. 

The 25 Venice Principles represent the first, independent, international set of standards for the Ombudsman institution.  They are the equivalent of the Paris Principles which set out the standards against which national human rights institutions are judged.  They play a key role in protecting existing Ombudsman Offices who are facing threats, provide guidelines for the improvement of current Ombudsman Offices and set a template for new Offices where none are present.

The meeting of the Venice Commission was addressed by IOI President Peter Tyndall, European Vice President Catherine De Bruecker, (Belgian Federal Ombudsman representing AOMF - Association des Ombudsmans et des Médiateurs de la Francophonie), and Andreas Pottakis, (European Board Member and Greek Ombudsman representing AOM - Association des Ombudsmans de la Méditerranée).  The meeting was also addressed by Carmen Comas-Mata Mira (representing FIO - the Iberoamerican Federation of Ombudsman).

The IOI has been highly engaged in the evolution of the Principles because of their significance and also because of the realisation that any set of Principles which was not aspirational might serve to undermine existing Offices.

 IOI President Peter Tyndall said: 

“The ‘Venice Principles’ provide comprehensive and internationally accepted standards for the proper functioning and independence of ombudsman institutions around the globe”.

The draft considered by the Venice Commission was the subject of some minor amendments which included further strengthening of the protection against inappropriate removal from office.  The final version is very much more robust than the initial drafts, and reflects the benefits of an extended consultation in which the IOI was highly engaged, as well as the other representative bodies.

The IOI is very grateful to the Commission for its work, to the drafting group of Ms Lydie Err (the former Luxembourg Ombudsman), Mr Jan Helgesen (Norway), Mr Johan Hirschfeldt (Sweden), Mr Jørgen Steen Sørensen (Ombudsman of Denmark and member of the Venice Commission) Mr Igli Totozani (the former Ombudsman of Albania), and to the Venice Commission Secretariat, especially Ms Caroline Martin. Their willingness to engage with the IOI and the other Ombudsman associations, as well as key international actors such as the Council of Europe and the UNHCR has ensured that the final draft is a key document for the future of the Ombudsman in Europe and beyond.

 The Venice Principles can be found on the Council of Europe’s website.