A Father’s Anger

Eye condition leaves over daughter left partially blind

RY father claims his two–year-old has been left partially blind because hospital staff did not do enough to help her.

Fuad Mohammed, of Stepney Green in east London, alleges that doctors at Royal London Hospital, which is part of the Barts and London Trust, failed to spot that two-year-old Shakila was suffering from Aniridia, a rare eye condition which means that her iris is not completely formed. He said their failure to spot the condition early has left little Shakila vulnerable to becoming blind.

“Shakila has been badly let down, not only by Barts and the London hospital but also Tredegar Practice, her GP,” Somali-born Mohammed alleges.

“I feel very let down. The excuses I have heard from various consultants are that they could have spotted this if Shakila had blue eyes. Colour of skin or eye colour should not come into this. What should have happened was that eye examinations were checked with due diligence.”

Mohammed only learned about his daughter’s condition because he went to a private doctor. “If the condition was picked up on time, Shakila’s eyesight could have been better,” he claimed. “I can’t believe they missed spotting a fully dilated eye, which is jet black in colour“

He said Shakila is now not only partially sighted but her extreme sensitivity to lights and daylight means she has to wear special sunglasses, “when it’s bright, which means our curtains are mostly drawn shut.”

Angela Boon, a spokesperson for Barts and the London Trust, told The Voice that in October 2008, “Following her birth at the Royal London Hospital, Shakila was examined by a general paediatrician. This is recognised, good practice throughout the NHS. Aniridia – the condition Shakila was later diagnosed with – affects just one in 75,000 babies. Last year, 4,500 babies were born at the Royal London. General paediatricians will not know every paediatric ophthalmic condition, particularly one as rare as Shakila's.”

Boon added: “A joint investigation with NHS Tower Hamlets is currently underway and it would therefore be wrong for us to comment any further until the complaint has been fully investigated.”

Tredegar Practice declined to comment directly, referring The Voice to two letters the practice sent to Mohammed in November and December.

In the letters, dated November 26 and December 12 and signed by GP Isabel Hodkinson, the practice said it did the best it could to help Shakila, who was given a routine eye check when she was six-weeks-old.

“…I totally missed the finding of Aniridia and wholeheartedly apologise for this,” wrote Hodkinson. “However, I do not accept that this check was not done with due diligence. The eye tests that we do at that check are to make sure there is no cataract, which Shakila did not have. I have in the past picked up abnormalities of the iris in this check but this is where there was asymmetry of the iris but at this point had never seen or heard of Aniridia. I am sure that you are aware from your own research that is a rare condition.”

In the November 26 letter, Hodkinson also said doctors were not being racist in suggesting Aniridia could have been spotted earlier if Shakila’s eyes were blue. She wrote: “I completely agree with my consultant colleagues that it is far easier to detect iris abnormalities when the iris is pale; this is not racism but simple physics- it is far easier for the human eye to detect a difference in colour between light blue and black than dark brown and black.”

Hodkinson also said after concerns were raised, she decided to refer Shakila to the NHS orthoptist but “there were then significant problems with the choose and book system which introduced an unacceptable delay into the process of getting an appointment.”

Source: Voice Online