Dozens of people have been left with impaired vision, pain and discomfort after undergoing operations provided by a private healthcare company at the Musgrove Park Hospital in Taunton, Somerset.
The family of an 84-year-old man who, it is claimed, has lost his sight is calling for a full independent inquiry. It has emerged that half of the 60 patients who underwent surgery have suffered complications.
The private provider, Vanguard Healthcare, was contracted to carry out routine cataract operations in May 2014 to help to reduce a backlog at the Somerset hospital. The contract with Vanguard Healthcare was terminated four days after 30 patients, most elderly and some frail, reported complications, including blurred vision, pain and swelling. Lawyers have been contacted by some of those that have suffered complications to discuss seeking compensation, which raises the prospect of an NHS hospital picking up the bill for procedures done by a private health company.
Full story in The Guardian, 14 August 2014
