University Hospital Southampton welcomes patients to new eye unit

University Hospital Southampton (UHS) has completed an expansion to its eye unit which has opened its doors to patients yesterday (Monday).

The new ophthalmology facilities are linked to the existing outpatient department and provide space for 12 additional clinic rooms with supporting vision aisles, six new imaging rooms and two laser rooms, as well as patient and staff support facilities.

Southampton is the leading provider of eye care services on the south coast and the unit is one of the trust’s largest departments with almost 300 staff who treat more than 100,000 outpatients every year.

Nationally, ophthalmology is one of the busiest specialities in the NHS, with NHS Digital data revealing that it was the busiest outpatient specialty in 2019-20 with an attendance of 7.9 million recorded over the year.  The number of patients has been growing steadily over recent years, rising by around 38% over the past 10 years

The eye unit at UHS provides a comprehensive service for both adults and children ranging from routine outpatient appointments to eye emergencies, surgery and other inpatient care and the department is also heavily involved in pioneering national and international research.

Work on the expansion began in May 2021 and the build completed in November 2021 and was funded by the trust as part of its capital development programme.

As well as the investment into the build, UHS has also launched a recruitment campaign to take on 100 new staff – including nurses, allied health professionals and consultants – which will help increase resource and meet high and increasing demand.

“We are delighted that our expansion is finally complete and we are able to open the doors to our new facility for patients and staff today,” said Aris Konstantopoulos, clinical lead for ophthalmology at UHS.

“It has been well reported that eye patients are increasing and that is down to a number of reasons such as age, environmental factors and an increase in the prevalence of conditions associated with poorer eye health such as diabetes and obesity, but that means that some outdated units are struggling to meet this growing demand.

“UHS has recognised this and, as the region’s leading eye care provider, has committed to investment which has allowed us to build and install this cutting-edge facility.”

He added: “We are very lucky to have the very best experts in Southampton and now we have a facility that meets the world-class care our clinicians and wider staff deliver every day. Most importantly, it is going to make a huge difference to our patients.”

A small internal launch took place last Friday (12 November) which saw the service invite a patient involvement group as well as trust executives for a tour of the new facility and an official opening.

Clare Hawkins, care group manager for ophthalmology at UHS, said: “This fab new expansion will help reduce waiting lists, waiting times and delays to treatment which, in turn, will reduce the risk of harm as well as give us the ability to implement and provide new services such as support clinics to improve treatment outcomes.

“In addition, the expansion has allowed us to repatriate our service from Insourcing and Spire Perform, who helped support patient demand during the pandemic and throughout the expansion.

“This will help streamline and recover the service, making it more accessible for patients and improve financial productivity which can be reinvested back into the unit for continued future development.”

Suzy Pike, lead matron for ophthalmology at UHS, said: “A big thank you to our estates project team and contractors LST for all their hard work and dedication. It has been a pleasure to work with such great people who share our values and have created such an amazing space for our patients and staff – it is going to make such a difference.”