The new Altrincham Hospital is set to offer a significantly expanded eye service in what will be a boost for patients who currently have to travel to either Manchester Royal Eye Hospital or Withington Community Hospital.
The community hospital, which is set to open on April 27th, will hold up to 15 ophtalmology clinics a week – eight to 10 specialist glaucoma clinics and five medical retina clinics – compared to the one weekly clinic at the current hospital.
Specialists from Manchester Royal Eye Hospital will bring their expertise to Altrincham for the clinics.
The expansion is for adult eye clinics only – but children’s clinics are “under discussion” and may undergo similar expansion at a later date.
Another feature of the expanded service is that patients who are referred by their GP or optometrist with an acute eye problem or condition can be triaged over the phone by specialist nurses and will now be given an appointment and seen with 24 hours at Altrincham Hospital, rather than having to travel to Manchester Royal Eye Hospital.
“We are delighted to bring an expanded range of specialist eye services to people in the Altrincham area,” said Cecilia Fenerty, consultant ophthalmologist at Manchester Royal Eye Hospital.
“We believe that the new clinics will offer a much more convenient and accessible way for local people to get specialist care much closer to home in a pleasant and modern hospital environment. We look forward to launching our new ophthalmology service in the new Altrincham Hospital.”
Figures show that 20% of current MREH outpatients live closer to Altrincham Hospital than either MREH or Withington Community Hospital.
For a full list of services at the new hospital, see our story here.
