WAEH Newsletter – February 2021
18 February 2021
WAEH Webinar – The Patient Voice
Patient Storytelling at Meetings
Renee Chmielewski, Manager Planning & Patient Experience, The Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital, Melbourne, Australia
Evaluation of The Patient Experience within the Glaucoma and Medical Retina Services; the challenges associated with the COVID-19 Pandemic
Sana Hamid, Moorfields Eye Hospital, United Kingdom
The Voice of The Patient in times of COVID-19 Pasteur Ophthalmology Clinic. Dr. Jaime Zacharias, Clínica Oftalmológica Pasteur, Chile
Register here
Suggestions or ideas about interesting and important Eyecare and Eye Hospital topics and themes are welcome and can also be submitted via the Registration form.
First WAEH Chair talk!
With The Suraj Eye Institute, India
WAEH Chair talks
Dr. Vinay from the Suraj Eye Institute met with us online to present and tell us all about the Institute’s wonderful work and ambitions! We’d like to invite all of our WAEH members to a one-on-one meeting with our new Chair Anders Boman! Register for the WAEH Chair Talks with Anders Boman via this form: t.ly/yuER
Meeting with the Suraj Eye Institute
The Suraj Eye institute has improved over a million lives since their inauguration in 2002. They have performed cataract surgeries for 25.000 patients, done special procedures for 10.000 patients and served more than a 1000 villages and trained one thousand community health workers!
Read about the full meeting with the Suraj Eye institute on our website!
Knowledge Hub updated
21 January webinar now online!
The 21 January webinar is now online on the WAEH Knowledge Hub! An Ly, Orthoptist from the Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital, Australia presented during this webinar about “An Orthoptists role in establishing an Ophtalmology Clinic at the Victorian Aboriginal Health Services”. He incorporated national data to present how they aim to provide improved and tailored Eye Health Care to the Aboriginal community.
WAEH members can login on the knowledge hub to watch the webinar. Forgot your login? Send an e-mail to Maaike: maaike.vanzuilen@waeh.org.
Upcoming Webinars
25 March 2021
WAEH Webinar: New injection facility Intravitreal Injections
In this extremely challenging and difficult times, the Ophthalmology teams all around the globe, have worked extremely hard to deliver ophthalmology care to our patients, in the safest and most innovative ways.
The South Division team
At Moorfields, the South Division Team, responsible for the Ophthalmology services for Moorfields in the South London area, have demonstrated extraordinary resilience by creating a new injection facility for their High Risk MR patients.
Organising an Injection Facility in 5 days
The team worked above and beyond by identifying, certifying, stratifying their patient lists and organising an injection facility in just 5 working days!
On March 25, The Moorfields team will share this experience with their colleagues around the World and possibly help you with their experience!
Register here
Suggestions or ideas about interesting and important Eyecare and Eye Hospital topics and themes are welcome and can also be submitted via the Registration form.
30 April 2021
WAEH Webinar – Schwartz Rounds
Webinar: Friday 30th April 13.00-14.00 (UK time)
There will be a new LIVE Schwartz Round! Schwartz Rounds provide a structured forum where all staff, clinical and non-clinical, come together to discuss the emotional and social aspects of working in healthcare.
Click here for more information about the Schwartz Rounds.
Register here
Suggestions or ideas about interesting and important Eyecare and Eye Hospital topics and themes are welcome and can also be submitted via the Registration form.
News from our members
Credit: Thomas Johnson and Johns Hopkins Medicine
Wilmer Eye Institute
A Rift in the Retina May Help Repair the Optic Nerve
The Rotterdam Eyehospital has proudly opened an Optometrists Center in Rotterdam. Ophthalmic patients who no longer need the specialist care of the ophthalmologist can now be seen by a specialized optometrist at this center. As a result, these patients are guaranteed efficient, high-quality care at a small-scale location, while more patients can go to the ophthalmologist who need the specialist care of the ophthalmologist.
Date: 14 January 2021
Read the full article here
Source: Wilmer Eye Institute
New York Eye and Ear Infirmary
Scientists Take Important Step Toward Using Retinal Cell Transplants to Treat Blindness
“Latest discovery is promising step in use of cell therapy to treat retinal diseases.” (New York Eye and Ear Infirmary)
The retinal pigment epithelium (RPE), a layer of pigmented cells in the retina, functions as a barrier and regulator in the eye to maintain normal vision. RPE dysfunction can lead to eye disorders including macular degeneration and can cause blindness, which affects about 200 million people worldwide.
To restore this population of cells, the researchers extracted retinal stem cells from donated cadaver adult eyes, which can enable donor compatibility matching and can serve as a recurring source of human RPE. The team then assessed the safety and feasibility of implanting adult retinal stem cells into non-human primates.
Date: 14 January 2021
Read the full article here
Source: New York Eye and Ear Infirmary
OrBis – Flying Eye Hospital
Watch: AI & Simulation: A New Frontier!
In this episode of Orbis’ series ‘Sightlines’, Orbis explores how they have added artificial intelligence (AI) to their toolkit in the fight against global blindness.
Guests Dr. Michael Abramoff, Founder and Chairman of Digital Diagnostics; Dr. Nicolas Jaccard, Principal AI Architect at Orbis International; and Captain Cyndhi Berwyn, FedEx Pilot, discuss the use of these cutting-edge technologies in eye care. Dr. Danny Haddad returns to discuss the power of simulation in ongoing education.
Date: 15 January 2021
Watch the episode here
Source: Orbis
St. Erik Eye Hospital
Increasing evidence of an Inflammatory Immune Component to Glaucoma
A new study aimed to identify and quantify changes to microglia cells in glaucoma, furthers the evidence of an inflammatory immune component of the incurable eye disease and identifies new targets to follow up as potential therapies. The study, published in the journal TVST, was led by researchers at Karolinska Institutet and St. Erik Eye Hospital in collaboration with Cardiff University and University of Copenhagen.
Date: 15 January 2021
Read the full article here
Source: St. Erik Eye Hospital
OrBis – Flying Eye Hospital
Five ways you can change lives in 2021
“We’re more determined than ever to ramp up our fight against avoidable blindness and continue protecting the people who are most at risk, can we count on you to join us to do something amazing and help give someone a brighter future?” (Orbis)
Orbis has put together some impactful ways how you can help change the way the world sees in 2021:
1. Give the gift of sight through Eye Give
2. Fundraise for Orbis
3. Leave a gift to Orbis in your Will
4. Set up a regular gift to Orbis
5. Share their story on social
Read the full article and a more in-depth explanation and examples on how to support Orbis here
Date: 18 January 2021
Source: Orbis
Phillips Eye Institute
How to be an ally to health care workers
“In addition to all the stress all of us face due to the pandemic, health care workers face additional unique challenges — desperately ill patients, many of them dying. Allina Health psychiatrist Dr. Elizabeth LaRusso talked with WCCO TV News about how the community can be a good ally to our health care workers.” (Phillips Eye Institute)
Date: 21 January 2021
Watch the insightful News clip here
Source: Phillips Eye Institute
Moorfields Eye Hospital
Moorfields Ophthalmologist to present at TEDx talk
Siegfried Wagner, research fellow and Ophthalmologist at Moorfields Eye Hospital and UCL, will be presenting a talk at an upcoming online TEDx event.
TEDxLondonBusinessSchool is hosting an online event streaming on the second and fourth of February, from 7:00pm to 8:30pm (GMT), with the theme “Mind the Gap.” The talks aim to inform viewers about the gaps in knowledge we have in society and the opportunities that arise from these.
Siegfried will be talking about the how statistical modelling and artificial intelligence techniques can be used to understand how changes in our eyes can reveal overall health, from heart disease to dementia.
Date: 21 January 2021
Read the full article here
Source: Moorfields Eye Hospital
Singapore National Eye Centre
Don’t be short-sighted about myopia in children
Myopia, or near-sightedness, makes objects at a distance out of focus. While spectacles or contact lenses correct this easily, many people do not realise that developing myopia leads to irreversible changes to our eyes, such as excessive eyeball elongation.
This growth process begins in childhood, and continues to develop into adulthood with no further symptoms or impairment until other complications develop – such as early cataract, glaucoma, macular degeneration and retinal detachment – that could lead to visual impairment or blindness.
Therefore, the prevention of blindness from myopia has to begin with preventing the condition from developing in the first place – and this has to start from childhood.
Date: 2 February 2021
Read the full article here
Source: Singapore National Eye Centre
Moorfields Eye Hospital
Moorfields provides online course about Children’s Eyecare!
Hosted by: Moorfields education
Healthcare providers/staff who mainly provide services for adults, and only occasionally see children, often do not feel confident to interact with children with eye/vision problems and their families.
This course aims to introduce the learner to the basic concepts of paediatric ophthalmology, in order to give them confidence when approaching children. The course is available from 3 March 2021
Read more about the course, requirements and how to register here
Questions? Share news?
Do you have a special request? Would you like to organize a webinar or share news? Fill in this WAEH form
Or would you like to be (digitally) connected to a certain person in one of our member eye hospitals? Please feel very welcome, and do not hesitate to contact Maaike van Zuilen: Maaike.vanzuilen@waeh.org