Moorfields signs partnership agreement for new eye centre in Abu Dhabi

Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and United Eastern Medical Services (UEMEDICAL), Abu Dhabi’s leading privately owned healthcare development and investment company, signed a partnership agreement to establish Moorfields Eye Centre (MEC) in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday 17 June.

Moorfields Eye Centre will open in Abu Dhabi towards the end of 2014, and will offer the same comprehensive range of high quality clinical services and day case surgical procedures offered at Moorfields Eye Hospital Dubai. Services offered at the Moorfields Eye Centre in Abu Dhabi will include paediatric ophthalmology, strabismus, glaucoma, medical and surgical retina, oculoplastics (cosmetic surgery around the eye), corneal, and refractive (vision corrective surgery). Since October 2013, ophthalmology consultants from Moorfields have been providing outpatient services at UEMEDICAL’s HealthPlus Diabetes and Endocrinology Centre in Abu Dhabi.

Moorfields opened its purpose-built hospital in Dubai in 2007 – the first overseas branch of Moorfields Eye Hospital in London – which has since treated more than 31,000 patients, some of whom have come from Abu Dhabi. The hospital has a permanent team of 10 specialist consultants and has confirmed its status as a centre of excellence in treatment, training and research.

UEMEDICAL owns and operates a network of specialty centres and family clinics across Abu Dhabi under its ‘HealthPlus’ brand, and will soon open the first specialised women and children’s hospital, Danat Al Emarat, in Abu Dhabi.

Mr. Mohamad Ali Al Shorafa Al Hammadi, CEO and managing director of United Eastern Medical Services commented - “Such an agreement with world renowned ophthalmic centre of excellence, Moorfields Eye Hospital, represents another step for UEMEDICAL in the realisation of the UAE leaders' vision to provide the people of the UAE with the best healthcare facilities comparable to international standards. It also comes in line with the Health Authority – Abu Dhabi strategic priorities to improve clinical outcomes through partnering with world renowned partners. The new Moorfields Eye Centre in Abu Dhabi will complement our other outpatient centres.  We develop integrated healthcare systems that raise the bar for medical excellence. The new Moorfields Eye Centre in Abu Dhabi will be one of very few facilities in the emirate that are fully specialised in eye care services. Through partnering with Moorfields, we plan on bridging the gap in the current eye care services available in the emirate.”

Commenting on the new agreement and centre, John Pelly, CEO of Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, said: “We are very pleased to sign this partnership agreement with UEMEDICAL and to bring Moorfields’ world class eye care services to the community of Abu Dhabi. Our mission always remains constant, which is to focus on treating patients, teaching and research, and this new centre will aim to make a significant contribution in all three areas in Abu Dhabi. The new centre is an important part of our expansion strategy for the UAE and will complement Moorfields’ mission in Dubai and hopefully replicate the hospital’s outstanding success in serving the community and supporting the development of healthcare in the UAE.”