Heartbeat: Midlands Hospital Optometry Group returns to BMEC after 14 years

July 25, 2019

In May the optometry department at the Birmingham & Midland Eye Centre hosted the annual Midlands Hospital Optometry Group (MHOG) meeting welcoming colleagues from across the region including Oxford, Leicester, Nottingham, Derby, University Hospitals Birmingham, Wolverhampton, Sheffield, Coventry & Warwickshire, Warwick, Heartlands and Russells Hall Hospital.

Eleven organisations were represented by heads of optometry/deputy heads as well as other senior colleagues making this one of the largest gatherings in recent years.

The meeting was opened by Dr Waheeda Illahi, Head of Optometry Services with a trip down memory lane sharing black and white photos of the department from the 1930s onwards making it a nostalgic and fun way of remembering the past. She paid tribute to Dr Jayne Kempster who had led the optometry department for over 25 years before retiring in 1996 when the hospital relocated from the city centre to the current site.

Dr Illahi highlighted the developments within the optometry service at BMEC and shared the journey that she and her colleagues had undertaken over the last nine years under her leadership expressing her immense gratitude to members of her team.

She said: “The department has built on its heritage, continuing to provide core optometry skills and services unique to BMEC such as an in-house Scleral lens workshop and an optical dispensary. The optometry service has also risen to the challenge of supporting the changing needs of ophthalmology with the expansion of the role of optometrists into various extended role sub-specialities including glaucoma, corneal, medical retina and urgent care/casualty services.”

Dr Illahi continued: “The very first MHOG meeting was held in Birmingham in 1991 and over the last 28 years colleagues have met every year to discuss best professional practice, share knowledge, expertise and to discuss challenges faced by the changing needs of the profession.

“At the meeting there was an excellent teaching programme with talks on collagen cross linking, corneal grafts and interesting visual function cases.”

The first lecture was presented by Professor Sunil Shah, who is a well-known figure within the field of ophthalmology and optometry. He works at BMEC and is also the current president of the prestigious British Contact Lens Association. He discussed advances in surgical techniques for corneal grafts including the move away from traditional techniques such as penetrating keratoplasty where all the layers of the cornea are removed. Videos were shown of modern procedures such as deep anterior lamellar keratoplasty (DALK) and descemet stripping automated endothelial keratoplasty (DSAEK) which results in faster recovery and better visual outcomes for patients. Mr Ankur Barua, Consultant Ophthalmologist and Dr Peter Good, Consultant Neurophysiologist gave detailed and informative presentations on collagen cross linking (a laser treatment for a condition called keratoconus) and rare cases presenting to the visual function department. Dr Good’s career spans over 45 years. The afternoon session began with John Thatcher who represents the West Midlands branch of the Keratoconus Support Group (a voluntary organisation). He provided an update on information and counselling support available to patients with keratoconus.

The AGM was chaired by Professor Martin Rubinstein, Lead Optometrist at Leicester Royal Infirmary who provided an update from the Hospital Optometrists Committee in matters relating to pay, pensions, training protocols and developments within the optometry and ophthalmology professions. The day concluded with a tour of BMEC and the optometry department. The optometry department supports over 30 consultant ophthalmologists and continues to thrive as a leading example to other hospitals. The event was sponsored by Bausch & Lomb.