Friends of Bristol Eye Hospital raise funds to improve the care and treatment of patients at the hospital. We help to pay for medical equipment, facilities, patient comforts, staff resources and generally to support the charitable work of the hospital. We can also help patients or former patients in distress or need.
Most of our grants provide medical equipment which is beyond the purse of the NHS; items may be the latest technology and therefore expensive, or we may provide extra items of standard equipment to supplement the NHS provision where having more means treating more patients more quickly. Medical equipment we have provided includes:
- HRT3 Rostock Cornea Module Confocal Microscope
- Forus Neo Portable Wide-angled Retinal Camera
- Fluorescein Angiography Module for treating premature and very young babies
- Slit-lamp cameras
- Ophthalmoscopes
- Optical Coherence Tomographers for retinal imaging
- Visual Field Analysers for the treatment of glaucoma
- Theatre Microscope Digital Cameras
- Pachymeter for use in corneal graft surgery
- Corneal Collagen Cross-Linking Device
- Kelman Phaco-Emulsifier for cataract surgery
- Digital Angiography Imaging System (“DAISY”) to diagnose and treat retinal disease
- Flat Screen Theatre Monitors
We also provide smaller items for the comfort and care of patients. Some examples of these over the years include: Christmas decorations, TVs, toys, plants and gardens, murals, hire & insurance of paintings, purchase and maintenance of the fish tank in the children’s ward.
We occasionally make grants for patients in special need, eg a walkie-talkie for a blind patient with memory lapses, an instrument to enable a blind diabetic patient to monitor his own insulin levels and a lap-top computer for a child with almost no sight.
To continue this work, we depend heavily on individual donations and legacies. Many of our generous supporters help us after having benefited from the superb treatment given by the Bristol Eye Hospital.
