Next steps set out for Western Eye Hospital following temporary relocation of services
Following a review of safety at the vacant Samaritan Hospital, adjacent to the Western Eye Hospital, at the end of November 2021 the Trust took the precaution of immediately relocating some services from the Western Eye while more detailed investigations took place. The majority of services from the Western Eye have moved to Charing Cross Hospital, which already provides some specialist opthamology care.
In the meantime, we have been undertaking detailed building investigations to determine next steps. These investigations have now concluded and show that it will be possible to make the site safe again within a reasonable budget and timescale. We are developing a short business case for the required investment, with anticipation that it will be funded through NHS England’s ‘targeted invest fund’. In the meantime, we continue to provide eye surgery displaced from the Western Eye at Charing Cross Hospital, including in a mobile operating theatre that has been opened there.
Professor Tim Orchard, chief executive, said: “I’m very grateful to all our teams who have worked extremely hard to move services in the safest and least disruptive way possible, ensuring we’ve been able to continue to offer high quality care to our patients. We will provide a further update as soon as we get more information on plans for the remedial works which will need to take place for services to be reinstated.”
