Broadstairs: Family paid £235,000 after failings in GP's care
- Published
Joan Foulis died after a fall in her care home in 2020
The family of a woman who lost her sight after failings by her GP, which they claim led to her death, have received a damages payment.
Joan Foulis, 82, from Broadstairs, Kent, died after a fall in her care home in 2020.
Her family claim the death could have been prevented had she received appropriate treatment.
The General Medical Council (GMC) has offered the GP advice, but it decided against any further action.
The family has now received £235,000 in damages.
In May 2017, Joan Foulis went to her doctor with blurred vision but was diagnosed with an eye infection.
Within days she said she had no vision in both eyes. It was not until a week later that she was sent to a specialist.
Joan Foulis's son Steve described her death as "unacceptable"
Her son, Steve Foulis, said: "Had the doctor done his job properly, she wouldn't have lost her sight.
"If she hadn't have lost her sight, she wouldn't have needed to go to a care home, and if she hadn't have been in a care home she wouldn't have - because she couldn't see - fallen over and broken her hip, ended up in hospital and died three weeks later of pneumonia.
"It's unacceptable, shocking. It's not what you expect from a GP."
An independent expert examining the case for the GMC concluded: "The overall standard of care fell seriously below the standard expected of a reasonably competent GP because two opportunities were missed to adequately and appropriately examine the patient."
An investigation was carried out by the GMC.
Joan Foulis's family has now received £235,000 in damages
But because the case did not progress to a full hearing, it has not been published and so the doctor has not been named publicly.
The doctor told the GMC he was "devastated that harm was caused to the patient whilst under his care".
He said he "accepted that the examinations carried out on the patient should have been more thorough".
The GMC concluded: "Given the length of time since the events occurred, the fact that no further concerns have been reported, clear evidence of insight and the doctor's expression of remorse, we are of the view that there is no realistic prospect of demonstrating that he poses an ongoing risk to patient safety."
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