Moneo writes: Trauma of getting the wrong diagnosis

Recently I have had two incidents in my practice that have led me to question current modes of practice. Recent legal proceedings which have been widely reported in the optical press have brought home to all of us the need to accurately review certain aspects of our daily patient interactions. Not least among these has to be the way we look at images that we have captured and the resultant diagnoses we may give.

The first incident was when I had a mother phone me up and tell me that she had received a letter about her 16-year-old diabetic daughter from the diabetic screening service locally. This letter stated she had background diabetic retinopathy and then went on to list all the dire warnings of what could occur if she didn’t sort things out. This naturally panicked both mother and daughter massively. She asked if she could come and see me for an imaging session. This duly happened and there was no sign whatsoever of any changes. As a result the mother contacted the Screening Service and asked them to check their findings. She was told that at the second screening what was found at the first visit may well have disappeared and hence the second screening would show no retinopathy. When the mother asked if this would have meant an all clear letter would then have been sent she was told it would. So on one visit she would have been told she had retinopathy but on a subsequent visit that she did not.