A WORCESTER man with sight problems who was terrified he was going to go blind had to travel to Birmingham for emergency treatment because no one could treat him locally.

Dan Thompson, who developed complications after an eye operation, was taken by ambulance to the Birmingham Midland Eye Centre at City Hospital because no one was available to treat him in Worcester’s GP out-of-hours service or in A&E at Worcestershire Royal Hospital.

The 37-year-old, whose sight is so poor he is registered blind, was concerned he would lose what sight remained to him after he developed blurred vision on Saturday, May 12, following an operation two days earlier to treat a posterior vitreous detachment in his left eye.

Mr Thompson, who lives off St Peter’s Drive, Worcester, said: “There are risks with any operation and I was told by a consultant there was a one-in-800 chance I could go blind.

"It caused a lot of concern and worry for me and my mum.”

Because he developed the problem on a Saturday when the ophthalmology department is closed at Worcestershire Royal Hospital in Worcester he visited the GP out-of-hours service where a doctor told him he could not treat the problem and advised him to go to A&E.

When Mr Thompson got there he was examined but a doctor told him she could not check the pressures in his eye and advised him to go to the Birmingham Midland Eye Hospital.

An examination there revealed that the pressure was ‘dangerously high’ and he had to be given intravenous drugs to reduce it.

When he was ready to go home Mr Thompson said an ambulance refused to take him and a taxi, which cost City Hospital £35, had to be called instead.

Mr Thompson finally arrived home at 1.30am, five hours after he first arrived at the Birmingham hospital and seven hours after he arrived at A&E at Worcester.

He said: “I find it quite laughable and ridiculous that all those resources were taken up because someone isn’t trained to do pressure checks.

"It seems quite an ordeal to have to go through when eyes are so important and irreparable damage can happen so quickly too.”

A spokesman for Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust apologised for the inconvenience to Mr Thompson.

“We will be contacting the GP out-of-hours service to remind them of the arrangements to ensure that patients do not get sent to Worcester unnecessarily in the future.”