Western Eye Hospital is an ophthalmology hospital in west London. It is managed by the Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust.

Western Eye Hospital
Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust
Western Eye Hospital is located in City of Westminster
Western Eye Hospital
Location within Westminster
Geography
LocationMarylebone Road, London, England, United Kingdom
Coordinates51°31′15″N 0°09′49″W / 51.5208°N 0.1635°W / 51.5208; -0.1635
Organisation
Care systemNational Health Service
TypeSpecialist
Services
Emergency departmentYes Accident & Emergency
SpecialityOphthalmology
History
Opened1856
Links
Websitewww.imperial.nhs.uk/our-locations/western-eye-hospital Edit this at Wikidata
ListsHospitals in England

History

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The hospital was founded by Henry Obre and John Woolcott, both surgeons at St John's Place in Lisson Grove as the St Marylebone Eye and Ear Institution in 1856.[1] It moved to a larger facilities in Marylebone Road in 1860, and an out-patients department was opened by the Marquess of Ripon in 1904.[1] After the existing facility at Marylebone Road became very dilapidated, a new purpose-built facility was built on the same site and opened in March 1930.[1] It joined the National Health Service in 1948 and was renamed the Western Eye Hospital in 1993.[1]

The former Samaritan Hospital for Women is located next door, and though largely disused is utilised to provide estates and facilities support for the adjoining Western Eye Hospital.[2]

Facilities

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The hospital operates a daily emergency department for ambulance and walk-in cases. It features a minor surgical theatre, a triage system and three ophthalmic operating theatres. It treats a wide range of eye conditions from glaucoma, cataract, retinal tears, to wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD), a major cause of blindness.[3]

Alumni and staff

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  • Bashar al-Assad - President of Syria (attended postgraduate studies at the Western Eye Hospital, specializing in vitreoretinal ophthalmology).[4] There al-Assad’s consultant supervisor remarked “He was an extremely kind person and a warm personality" while a nurse went on the record stating he was “calm at the operating table and had a wonderful manner with the patients . . . He spoke with every patient just before surgery to reassure them all would be well.”[5]
  • Tania Mathias - former British MP and UN refugee worker

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d "Western Eye Hospital". Lost Hospitals of London. Retrieved 12 May 2018.
  2. ^ Peracha, Qasim (30 November 2022). "Spooky remains of former London hospital abandoned for 25 years". My London.
  3. ^ "Our service". Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust. Retrieved 12 May 2018.
  4. ^ Leverett 2005, p. 60.
  5. ^ Chinthapalli, Krishna (14 September 2013). "When a doctor goes wrong" (PDF). BMJ (Clinical Research Ed.). 347. British Medical Journal: f5455. doi:10.1136/bmj.f5455. PMID 24022037. S2CID 29230090.

Sources

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