Woman left almost blind after botched eye operation 'felt like she was being tortured'

Woman left almost blind after botched eye operation 'felt like she was being tortured' EXCLUSIVE: Geraldine Guite, 61, from Staines, Surrey, was left with severe damage to her right eye after a botched procedure at the SpaMedica private hospital in Wokingham A mum who was left almost blind in one eye from botched surgery at a private hospital has said she felt like was being 'tortured' during the horror operation. Geraldine Guite, 61, from Staines, Surrey, was having the routine procedure at SpaMedica, a private health firm that carries out cataract surgery for the NHS, when she suffered a serious rupture in her right eye. It left her with fragments floating around the whites of her eye, turning it a dark red colour. Despite several operations to to try and fix the damage, she has been left with no vision in the middle of her eye, and only blurred vision at the edges. The mum-of-three had previously undergone surgery on her left eye at the same SpaMedica hospital in Wokingham in 2022, with no complications. It meant that she was relaxed when arriving for the procedure on her right eye in February 2023 - but things quickly changed once the operation began. Ms Guite said: "When I was on the operating table I remember feeling like I was a prisoner being tortured and that I hoped it would be over as quickly as possible. The pain was excruciating and I was awake to feel it all. I was conscious that if I moved it would only make matters worse. "I knew something was going wrong, I felt extremely unsafe and thought I had made a terrible mistake being there. As a former midwife, I have nothing but respect for the NHS, but there has been a catalogue of horrors that has led me to lose the sight from my right eye." Ms Guite said she was only told she needed surgery to correct the damage by text message, and recalled: "When I turned up for the second operation I looked like a horror show and like I had been in a boxing match." Ms Guite went to the clinic again two days later after finding her vision had "deteriorated even more" - but claims she was denied medical attention. She said: "I felt dismissed and that nobody was listening to me. "I knew my vision wasn’t recovering as it had from the first cataract surgery to my left eye. I was panicking and wanted proper and urgent treatment. Despite my concerns, they only gave me eyedrops, which were no use for the situation I was in." Desperate for answers, she took herself to Moorfields Eye Hospital in London, where she was told she had suffered macular toxicity - damage to the central part of the retina, typically caused by high doses of medication. SpaMedica have no records of the amount of the particular drug they gave her during the second procedure. Ms Guite believes that if the original capsular rupture in the first operation hadn't happened, none of the complications would have followed. She said: "It’s deeply upsetting. I spend every waking moment trying to regulate myself and I constantly feel discombobulated because of my visual impairment. I am really angry. People need to know that you turn up to these places and have no idea who is going to be operating on you." On top of the permanent damage to her eyesight, it later emerged that the SpaMedica's medical records had given a completely different account of the operation that removed any mention of her discomfort - and even claimed she had been pleased with the results. Ms Guite explained: "The records showed that I suffered no pain, was reassured throughout the operation, that I thought the operation was a success and that I would recommend the surgeon to family and friends, which couldn’t be further from the truth. It was like they were marking their own homework. "The whole complaints procedure has been traumatic and caused me enormous distress. It feels like they just want me to go away. I’ve been left with a lifelong disability, yet they are just able to walk away as if I don’t matter at all.” SpaMedica have since admitted liability. A letter from the company's lawyers said: "Our client accepts liability and is very sorry for the shortcomings in the care provided to Ms Guite. On behalf of our client, we would like to sincerely apologise for the poor care." Ms Guite, who was was until recently was a full-time carer for her autistic son, is now seeking compensation from SpaMedica over the damage to her eyesight, the mental toll, and the adjustments to her lifestyle that have resulted from her injuries. Arran Macleod, a medical negligence solicitor from Penningtons Manches Cooper, said: "My client’s life has been devastated because of a catalogue of errors that could easily have been avoided. If her surgeon had been more professional, listened to my client's concerns and taken basic steps to manage her pain and eye movements, the injury would have been entirely avoided. "The loss of my client's vision has understandably deeply affected her mental health and this has been made worse by SpaMedica’s conduct towards her during the complaints procedure. The admissions that have now been obtained from the defendant completely vindicate my client's concerns and complaints. "We will now be investigating what aids, equipment, adaptations and commercial support will be required by my client to mitigate her injuries before presenting SpaMedica with our assessment of the value of her claim for compensation."