We support our dedicated staff and the ongoing care of our patients
Major training centre in NSW
Sydney / Sydney Eye Hospital is an efficient, vibrant and united hospital specialising in training nurses, orthoptists, ophthalmologists and hand surgeons and their therapists. It’s a busy, tertiary referral service in hands and eyes for all NSW, training over 45 registrars on site and in rotation in NSW, Darwin and Hobart.
It has an admirable legacy of nursing and medical firsts to its credit, including a Fellowship Program which the Foundation has supported since 1991 and ongoing commitment to patients and nursing education and training.
Nursing
The Foundation is committed to helping nurses gain specialist skills and experience. The Graduate Certificate in Ophthalmic Nursing in collaboration with the University Of Notre Dame is one initiative funded by the Foundation. This provides a two year clinical placement program and pathway for registered nurses wanting to specialise in ophthalmology.
There are currently two nurses enrolled in the program.
Foundation Fellows
The Foundation has welcomed and funded over 150 Fellows from 31 countries. Many of these countries are disadvantaged, providing little or no access to advanced specialist medical training.
The Fellows, however, have brought a spirit and depth of service, which has not only served Sydney Eye Hospital patients and the Australian community well, but has directly saved the sight of thousands of people when the Fellows have returned to their own countries.
A Fellow is a fully qualified and talented ophthalmologist from Australia or overseas who is seeking to develop knowledge and skills in the most advanced areas of ophthalmology and visual sciences.
The Fellows are selected competitively and come to our teaching hospital to interact and learn from our leading surgeons and clinicians. They diagnose and treat patients and receive a wide range of experience in clinical management, including surgery and potentially research, so that by the end of their Fellowship they are exceptionally competent, having learnt from the best.
Fellows provide critical clinical and teaching expertise
The Fellows are given once in a lifetime experience working side by side our specialists and contribute significantly to our frontline workforce, diagnosing and treating patients in clinics and performing surgery.
In 2020 the Foundation conducted a survey of the then Fellows to assess their value to the hospital across all sub-specialities including Glaucoma, Uveitis, Vitreoretinal, Medical Retina, Cornea, Strabismus, Oncology, Neuro-ophthalmology.
They perform hundreds of complex eye surgeries during their Fellowship and are generally on call 24/7 providing a critical service.
Equally important, is the training and development of registrars and junior doctors that is boosted by the ophthalmology Fellows and fundamental to our teaching hospital.
Supporting patients and our community
Experiencing vision loss is a distressing and frightening experience. People affected by sight loss are the centre of the care provided.
The hospital offers a full ophthalmology service with medical, orthoptic, scientific and support staff all working together sharing knowledge and experience. The Foundation is committed to helping these expert teams in discovering new treatments, improving diagnosis and delivering outcomes for patients and the community.
Each year the hospital delivers 50,000 outpatient services; over 6,200 surgical procedures; 6.400 inpatient admissions and over 15,000 emergency services.
The Foundation is committed to helping patients with a number of initiatives underway;
Hospitals can be difficult to navigate at the best of times, but throw ina pandemic, being ill or visually impaired and it is hardly surprising people feel daunted when they come for treatment. The Foundation is funding a new wayfinding solution through BindiMaps, an indoor audio- based navigation app which uses common sense language to guide patients and visitors within the hospital.
Thanks to community support free Guest Wi-Fi is now available in busy clinical areas like Outpatient and Emergency Departments.
We’re also assisting our most vulnerable communities and helping improve vision outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Vision loss is the most common self-reported health complaint and is equal third (with trauma) in leading causes in the health gap for Indigenous Australians. Its impact on the individual, their family and community have evident repercussions.
Aboriginal people are less likely to access health services and more likely to leave hospital before they are advised to, largely due to financial consideration.
“Family support is vital in keeping patients in hospital and accessing care and we’re thrilled to be working in partnership with the Foundation to help patients receive the care and specialist eye service they need,” Linda Fagan, Foundation CEO.
What our experts say
“Fellows are the most senior training doctors in the hospital. Their contribution to the evaluation, care and surgical management of patients in the vitreoretinal unit is vital and considerable. They are also an important resource of expertise, support and teaching for junior ophthalmic staff in the hospital.”
Consultant vitreoretinal surgeon Professor I-Van Ho
“Corneal blindness is a leading cause of visual impairment worldwide. The corneal fellows we train at the Sydney Eye Hospital are a vital part of efforts to address the growing burden from corneal disease. The skills the fellows gain during their time at the Sydney Eye Hospital allow them to treat and lead programmes to address corneal blindness and importantly train the next generation of eye specialists.”
Professor Stephanie Watson, Head Corneal Unit, Sydney Eye Hospital
“Sydney Eye Hospital provides an unparalleled emergency service. The Vitreoretinal Fellows are a central and fundamental component to this busy patient area. Due to their constant presence at the hospital, the Fellows support the junior medical officers with advice and teaching and contribute across all specialities.”
Clinical A/Professor Andrew Chang, Head of Ophthalmology
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