High-flying Portsmouth professional who had ‘minor eye flicker’ has ‘life turned upside down by NHS error’

A Portsmouth professional, who was on track to become a millionaire, says he has lost everything because of poor NHS treatment of his eyes.

Andy Ingram, 42, had signed up clients such as professional football clubs and national charities working for an American marketing company, before his life was turned upside down by an NHS medical error.

After climbing the ranks as a high-flying consultant in sales and marketing in his 20s, Andy was earning six figures and was on track to become a millionaire, living a comfortable lifestyle in Portsmouth.

But he says NHS failings in his treatment left him legally blind in one eye for nearly half a decade, and he was barely able to work for 14 years.

Andy first went to hospital aged 29 with a minor eye flicker, which gradually got worse, especially during prolonged periods on his laptop.

He found out he had pseudomyopia, a condition where spasms in the ciliary muscles near the eyes cause blurred vision, head trauma, eye strain and neurological issues - shown in the video above.

An NHS doctor prescribed him glasses, which made his symptoms worse by over-correcting the pseudo-refraction, when he should have initially been given atropine drops to relax the eye muscles.

Since then, Andy has spent nearly 14 years trying to rectify the issues with his eyes, including 19 separate operations - and says he has lost nearly everything in his life.

Andy says he has been forced to battle the NHS at nearly every stage, initially being denied a second opinion after informing them that the prescribed glasses had caused his condition to deteriorate - but eventually they admitted they made an error.

After the glasses caused a dramatic drop in vision, he developed a secondary issue of convergence and misalignment, and Andy was advised that temporary atropine and botox with the NHS should be used, with a view to surgery if it failed.

However, he was transferred to the private sector on the same treatment and forced back to the workplace to fund the care for a year - where he had some level of success - but he could not maintain it as additional work made the symptoms worse, even leading him to lose vision in both eyes countless times.

Although Andy was convinced that he required surgery to fix his issues, he was left on atropine and botox for nearly 5 years, which he says is unheard of, and he still had the same recurring issues.

Andy had his first operation in January 2017 to fix his visual problems, surgery which had been initially recommended in 2012.

He has since had another 18 surgeries for misalignment issues, travelling 260 miles to Liverpool each time, but he is still suffering with the issues after being effectively blind in one eye for over four years.

Andy sought advice from solicitors to pursue a legal case for clinical negligence, but he says the firm failed to file the documents and the limitation period expired, meaning Andy is now seeking to bring a professional negligence case against the firm.

Andy said: “My life has been flushed down the toilet. I don't know where the time has gone. I have lived waiting a few months at a time for that next appointment, the next treatment date, the next surgery.

“At my worst, I had to lie down because I had headaches all the time. And it leads to depression and anxiety. For every second of every day you are trying to hold your eyes straight.

“I have lost so many people from taking a step back with my condition, because you cannot socialise because of the embarrassment.

“A lot of people post about mental health, but it doesn’t even begin to understand the suicidal elements that I’ve had. Your friends see you completely differently and they pity you.

“Life isn’t supposed to be easy and that’s fair enough, and it’s how you react to the obstacles that show your message. I try to pick myself up and stay positive and put my life back together, over and over and over again, but I wake up and nothing has changed.”

A spokesperson from Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust said: “The complaint raised by Mr Ingram in 2013 was fully investigated and responded to in 2013. We received a further call from Mr Ingram in 2017 and a meeting with senior clinical staff was arranged.

"We have received no further correspondence from Mr Ingram since this time. We would encourage Mr Ingram to get in touch with our Patient Advice and Liaison Team so we can look into this matter further.”

When life is difficult, Samaritans can be contacted day or night, 365 days a year. You can call them for free on 116 123, email them at [email protected], or visit www.samaritans.org to find your nearest branch.