The woman went to the emergency room at Kullbergska hospital in Katrineholm with a red painful eye.
She had had a cold, perhaps in covid-19, and the emergency department at Mälar Hospital therefore judged by telephone that she had suffered from a covid-related inflammation in the eye.
She was sent home with eye drops and pain relief.
But the woman did not experience any improvement and returned the next day, still without any specialist being allowed to look into her eye.
Had to wait for change of emergency
On the third day, she arrived at the emergency room in the middle of the night, and this time the care staff found that her eye had become significantly worse.
The emergency room was contacted again, but they did not want to receive her because there would be a change of emergency a few hours later.
Instead, she had to wait at Kullbergska Hospital for the rest of the night and then go to the hospital in Västerås, which took over the emergency room.
Long hospital stay and several operations
In Västerås, the staff found that the woman had suffered from an infection in the eyeball, a serious condition that led to several weeks in hospital, antibiotics and several operations.
Despite the care efforts, she lost sight of the eye.
The eye clinic at Mälar Hospital has reported itself to the Swedish Health and Care Inspectorate.
In its report, the clinic writes that the woman's symptoms should have led to a physical meeting with an ophthalmologist at an earlier stage.
In addition, the long wait in connection with the change of emergency room may have contributed to the serious care injury.