Eye Care (Ophthalmology)

You’ll see a consultant who will talk to you about cataract surgery. We usually do the operation at Stoke Mandeville Hospital as a day case procedure under a local anaesthetic.

If your condition is more complex or you have additional medical needs, you’ll need to stay in hospital for your operation.

Cataract surgery is the most common operation we perform (around 3,500 per year). We treat each patient individually and tailor our service to your particular needs.

We assess glaucoma patients at Stoke Mandeville, Wycombe and Amersham hospitals. Sometimes we do glaucoma assessments at Buckingham Hospital and Hemel Hempstead Hospital.

Most patients with glaucoma have to take eye drops to keep the condition stable and attend hospital for periodic outpatient checks.

A small number of patients need laser treatment or surgery for glaucoma. We do this type of surgery at Stoke Mandeville Hospital and Wycombe Hospital.

We treat age related macular degeneration (AMD) patients at Stoke Mandeville and Amersham Hospitals.

Treatment depends on the type of macular degeneration you have. Patients with ‘dry’ AMD (the most common form which gets worse over several years) may need vision aids such as magnifiers and speciali lighting to help improve their quality of life.

If you have ‘wet’ AMD, which can get worse quickly, you may need a series of injections and light treatment known as photodynamic therapy

Our hospital optometrists run low vision clinics at Stoke Mandeville Hospital, Wycombe Hospital and in Hemel Hempstead.

People with diabetes can develop problems with their eyes. Diabetic retinopathy is caused by high blood sugar levels damaging your retina (the back of your eye). It’s more likely if you have had diabetes for a long time or if you don’t control your diabetes.

Although blindness from diabetic retinopathy is quite rare, it’s still important to treat diabetic eye issues before they cause serious problems.

We run diabetic retinopathy clinics 3 times per week at Stoke Mandeville and Wycombe hospitals. You can get a referral to us from the diabetes for retinopathy screening programme, or from an optician.

We may offer you laser treatment to prevent problems with their vision.

We assess and treat patients with problems including:

• droopy eyelids
• inturning eyelids
• watering eyes
• eye problems caused by overactive thyroid glands
• eyelid tumours
• ingrowing eyelashes
• styes and other eyelid swellings.

You’ll see a consultant who will talk to you about eyelid and tear duct surgery. We do minor surgery at Amersham and Hemel Hempstead hospitals.

We do most surgery on an outpatient or day case basis. If your condition is more complex or you have additional medical needs, you’ll need to stay in hospital at Stoke Mandeville for your operation.

We assess and treat patients for surgical problems of the retina including detached retina, macular holes and epi-retinal membranes.

Our two consultant vitreo-retinal surgeons run outpatient clinics at Stoke Mandeville, Milton Keynes and Hemel Hempstead hospitals. We do retina operations at Stoke Mandeville hospital.

Detached retinas usually need surgical repair. The urgency depends on the type and extent of retinal detachment.

We aim, wherever possible, to schedule retinal detachment operations on day-time operating lists at Stoke Mandeville hospital. We occasionally refer people who require urgent retinal detachment surgery to other specialist units such as the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford, or Moorfields Eye Hospital in London.

Minor cornea problems are quite common and we can treat you at our clinics at Stoke Mandeville, Wycombe, Amersham, Hemel Hempstead and Buckingham hospitals.

More serious cornea problems such as inflammation or clouding need specialist treatment. We run corneal clinics at Wycombe and Stoke Mandeville hospitals. We also do surgical procedures such as corneal grafts at Stoke Mandeville Hospital.

Keratoconus is an uncommon condition where the cornea becomes distorted. It usually affects teenagers and young adults. Most people with keratoconus can regain good vision with contact lenses. Our hospital optometrists have special expertise in the fitting of contact lenses for this condition.

Our orthoptists assess adults with suspected squint or lazy eye at Stoke Mandeville, Wycombe, Amersham, Buckingham and Hemel Hempstead hospitals. We also assess children at these hospitals, and at community hospitals and certain GP surgeries in Buckinghamshire.

Surgery for squint usually requires a full anaesthetic, though it’s normally possible to go home the same day.

GP’s, optometrists and our Accident and Emergency department will refer you to us in an emergency situation.

This includes:

• eye injuries
• sudden loss of vision,
• severe eye infections or inflammation
• acute vision disturbances such as the sudden flashes or floaters.

If you need to come to hospital for emergency eye surgery, we’ll admit you to the eye ward at Stoke Mandeville hospital.

Emergency eye clinics also take place at Stoke Mandeville from Monday to Friday.

We also run urgent referral clinics once a week at Wycombe Hospital and Amersham Hospital. Outside normal working hours, we see eye emergency referrals at Stoke Mandeville hospital.

We use a range of imaging and diagnostic services to test the function of the eye and brain. This includes the visual electrodiagnostic service which uses electroretinography (ERG), visually-evoked cortical potentials (VECP) and electro-oculography (EOG) tests.

These tests provide us with additional information in cases of suspected retina disorders or the part of the brain which serves vision. We offer this service on an outpatient basis at Stoke Mandeville Hospital.

Our optometry service team perform sight tests and fit glasses for patients attending hospital eye clinics

We also fit complex contact lenses, for example for keratoconus and other optical appliances such as low vision aids.

You may need support and help to adjust to your eye condition, particularly if a cure is not possible.

BucksVision has offices in our eye clinics at Amersham, Wycombe and Stoke Mandeville hospitals. Our Eye Clinic Liaison Officers (ECLOs) offer emotional support for patients and their carers as well as providing practical information about local and national organisations.

BuckVision supports both adults and children and offers a drop in service and an appointment system.

At Hemel Hempstead Hospital, the Hertfordshire Society for the Blind provides a similar service.

• Macular Society
• Glaucoma UK
• Diabetes UK
• Retina UK