- New £6.7m eye centre opens at Sheffield’s Northern General Hospital
- Building offers first-of-its-kind cataract treatment services with some of the best ophthalmic assessment and surgical facilities in the UK
- Over 5,000 patients in the region will benefit from the purpose-built unit
- Half of all people aged 65 and over have some cataract development in one or both eyes
- One of the first patients in the region to benefit is Dalip Malkani, 78, of Bradway, whose vision has ‘much improved’ after having life-changing cataract surgery in his right eye
A new £6.7m eye centre has opened its doors to patients at the Northern General Hospital.
Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust’s latest investment is set to transform care for thousands of patients needing surgery to treat cataracts, which commonly affect older people and are the leading cause of impaired vision throughout the world.
Offering some of the best ophthalmic assessment and surgical facilities in the UK; the new Northern General Eye Centre has been designed by Race Cottam Associates to be light and airy and with the needs of people with limited vision in mind.
It has 10 consulting rooms; world-class diagnostic equipment; two hi-tech operating rooms; a large, welcoming reception area; dedicated drop-off and pick-up points; and handy self-check-in technology.
As a dedicated centre for cataract surgery; the ‘one stop stop’ will enable patients to have their consultation, all diagnostic tests, pre-operative assessments, and surgery induction process completed in a single visit.
Dalip Malkani was one of the first patients to be treated at the centre
Dalip Malkani, 78, of Bradway, is one of the first patients in the region to benefit from life-changing cataract surgery at the centre. He said: “My vision is much improved in that eye and the overall quality of my vision is much better than before.”
Carolyn Wilkie, operations director for head and neck services at Sheffield Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, added: “We are delighted to be opening this state-of-the-art £6.7m facility, which will benefit thousands of patients in the region, both now and in the future.
“Having cataract surgery can be a daunting experience, so a huge amount of planning has gone into the design and set-up of this building to ensure that every detail, from patients being able to have a named nurse to hold their hand throughout surgery, to patients being collected from reception and taken to the consulting rooms rather than being called in by the doctor or nurse, improves and enhances the patient experience.
“The building is a fantastic investment and not only will patients experience an extremely-high standard of care and have as much done in one appointment as possible to avoid unnecessary trips, but by opening up this facility we will be able to build our services in the future and ensure we meet the increasing demand for cataract eye surgery.”