Today (21st August) marks ten years since Manchester Royal Eye Hospital (MREH) first opened its doors in its new home on Oxford Road, and it has since been at the forefront of ground-breaking, specialist treatment and care.
Over the last decade MREH has reached some key milestones and fantastic achievements including their recent ‘Outstanding’ rating from the Care Quality Commission (CQC), making it the only standalone Eye Hospital in UK to receive this rating.
Colleagues joined in with the celebrations in the atrium today along with patients and visitors to the hospital, and were encouraged to submit their favourite memories from over the last decade. A photo gallery was set up with quizzes, a raffle and lots of cake on offer.
One favourite memory submitted by a member of staff was for the 200th anniversary of the founding of MREH in 2014, where the hospital held an open day for staff, patients and visitors with a tour of all departments to showcase the expertise and services.
During today’s festivities, Chief Executive of MREH, John Ashcroft recognised and thanked colleagues for their hard work and unveiled an ‘Outstanding’ CQC plaque, which is now on view in the atrium of the hospital.
He said: “I am very proud of all of our colleagues at the Manchester Royal Eye Hospital who go the extra mile every day to provide outstanding care to all of our patients. Our staff are our greatest asset, and without them we wouldn’t have achieved ‘Outstanding’ in our recent CQC inspection. This plaque is a testament to all of their hard work.”
Over the last decade, specialists at the hospital have delivered a number of ‘world-first’ treatments and there have been significant developments in treatment around cataracts, Glaucoma age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and the first trial of a bionic eye implant.
MREH was officially opened by the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh in 2012 and has been at the forefront of treatment of all eye conditions for more than 200 years. MREH is now one of the busiest hospitals of its kind in the world and is the largest specialist ophthalmic teaching hospital in the UK.
Around 45 consultants lead the services at MREH and a comprehensive secondary care service is provided to the Manchester population, as well as a tertiary ophthalmic service to the whole of the North West of England and beyond. Acute services are accessed by a population beyond Central Manchester due to its reputation for providing timely and definitive care.
Key achievements of the Eye Hospital:
· The only Eye Hospital in the UK to be rated ‘Outstanding’ by the CQC.
· MREH was the first eye hospital to provide specialist eye clinics on the high street in purpose built facilities in Cheetham Hill and Wythenshawe shopping centres in 2018.
· Over the last 10 years, the eye injection service has risen from approximately 50 treatments per month to 1600 per month.
· MREH is the first eye hospital to appoint an Eye Clinic Liaison Officer who provides advice and support for individuals who have recently received life-changing diagnoses.
· The hospital currently treats approximately 250,000 out-patients each year.
· In 2011 MREH eye surgeon, Bruno Zuberbuhler developed a new surgical tool to help treat patients with cataracts.
· In 2015 Professor Stanga at MREH performed the first ever bionic eye implant on a patient with age-related macular degeneration.
· In 2016 MREH was the first NHS hospital in the UK to offer the CentraSight treatment for end-stage age-related macular degeneration, carried out by Felipe Dhawahir- Scala.