Corby woman suing KGH for £1 million after going blind

Alleged delays at Kettering General Hospital are at the centre of a pending £1 million High Court negligence claim by a Corby woman.

Stephanie Robertson, 29, alleges in papers issued at the court in London and recently made public that she went blind after delays in diagnosing a pituitary tumour.

Now she has issued a writ against Kettering General Hospital NHS Foundation Trust seeking more than £1 million in compensation.

The papers say that Ms Robertson, was referred to hospital urgently after going to opticians Vision Express complaining of deteriorating sight after a car accident.

The papers say that Kettering General Hospital gave her a non-urgent appointment for four months later, but as her vision continued to worsen she went to the hospital where she was told her problems were probably psychological.

However, Ms Robertson says her sight became so bad that she was unable to work as a cleaner and kitchen assistant, and she visited Kettering General Hospital for the third time on 16 January 2019 after waking up completely unable to see.

Now Ms Robertson, is suing Kettering General Hospital NHS Foundation Trust for damages of more than £1 million accusing them of clinical negligence.

The papers say that the Trust has admitted substandard care leading to a delay in diagnosis and treatment of her tumour but the two sides are thought to be unable to agree how much compensation she should receive.

A CT scan on January 28 is said to have shown a mass in her pituitary, and although the radiologist noted that she needed an MRI scan ASAP, no steps were taken to arrange an urgent scan, the writ says.

Ms Robertson was finally seen at her pre-arranged appointment on 4 February 2019, where the doctor is said to have wrongly regarded the CT scan as being inconclusive, and to have arranged a non-urgent MRI scan which took place about six weeks later, on 17 March 2019.

This is said to have shown a large tumour, about the size of a tangerine, pressing on her optic nerve.

She was taken to A & E at Kettering before being transferred to neurosurgeons at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford where she underwent emergency surgery to remove as much of the tumour as possible and was later diagnosed with Addison’s disease, as a result of the tumour.

The writ says that Ms Robertson is now completely blind, with no perception of light in either eye, and is unlikely to be able to work again. It says she needs substantial care and assistance in her everyday life.

However, it is alleged that if she had been given an urgent appointment in October 2018, she would or should have been offered a CT and an MRI scan which would have revealed the cancer, leading to treatment, and her vision would have been restored to the level in October 2018 when she first saw the optician.

The writ says that even if she had not had surgery until January, she would have kept some useful vision, and although this would not have been enough to work or travel alone, she would have been able to look after herself and carry out many activities of daily living.

A spokesman for Kettering General Hospital said: “We are aware of the claim for compensation which has been made by the patient and this is being investigated by the trust’s representatives.

"As this is subject to ongoing legal proceedings we are not able to comment further at this stage.”