I was referred by my GP for laser eye surgery to this clinic. I booked in my appointment for 21 October, 2020. After having multiple scans , I was told at the end of the consultation that they did not actually do laser eye surgery as they name suggests but rather would be referred to Dr Gunn to see if I was a candidate for laser eye surgery in Brisbane.

In late December 2020, I received a letter stating that Dr Gunn had noted I had extensive keratoconus and would need to come into the clinic to undergo cross linking procedure to fix it. Given the condition is progressive , I booked in an appointment to get the cross-linking procedure.

On the day of the procedure, I received the exact same questions and scans as I had in my initial consultation difference being that I received an information booklet about keratoconus and the available procedures and the aftercare - something which I should have received prior to the surgery day. I did not know that there was a number of options available and therefore would have not been able to make an informed decision regardless.

Nevertheless, after the scans I was called in to Dr Gunn who told that my overall eye health, despite the astigmatism, was very good and would therefore be a good candidate for laser eye surgery. He went through all the laser eye procedures and concluded the appointment. I was confused by this and told him that he had diagnosed me with keratoconus and needed to undergo cross linking to fix it. He went and reviewed the scans and came back very apologetic as he had misdiagnosed me with something I didn’t have as he had mistakingly looked at another patient’s scan, wrote a letter to the wrong patient (me) and sent it - an error which was not recognised by the doctor himself, the clinic and reception staff despite me calling asking about the procedure on multiple occasions.

Despite the error I was proceeded to be billed for the exact same scans and conclusion by Dr Gunn as I had been by Dr Sonya.

I asked to talk to the manager, Lisa, who attributed the misdiagnosis and wrong letter sent to the wrong patient to be human error and blamed me for not picking up on it as “I hadn’t seen Dr Gunn that day.” Completely ignoring the fact that I had been referred to by him and thus has a requirement to review the scan and any other relevant information.

This is grave misconduct and blatant exploitation of their consumers. If I had been at the clinic to follow through with laser eye surgery, Dr Gunn could have easily reviewed the scans I had paid $400 for instead of making me pay for them again to tell me the exact same conclusion I had received initially.

I will be reporting the matter to AHPRA and I urge anyone who has had similar experiences or believe to have been charged for something they did not need to do the same.

Hello this is Carol O'Reilly... just a short note I'm in lockdown till tomorrow until 4.00pm ... I cannot come tomorrow morning at 9.00am . Please make new date next week. I'm available on 16, 19, 20 Sept. please let me know time and book Auslan Interpreter ok thanks. Carol