Moorfields welcomes the president of Malta

Maltese President Marie Louise Coleiro Preca visited Moorfields Eye Hospital on Monday November 30 to meet staff and discover more about the work of its ocular prosthetic services, its eye bank team and to present a cheque to Moorfields Eye Charity for £3,000. 

The president, her husband, and other delegates were met and welcomed by interim chief executive, Julian Nettel and Declan Flanagan, medical director. The president met several members of Moorfields staff and was taken on a tour of the ocular prosthetics department led by chief ocularist, David Carpenter.

The presidential party then visited Moorfields’ Lions Eye Bank where consultant ophthalmic surgeon, Romesh Angunawela, explained the work of the eye bank. The team procures, stores and screens donated eye tissue, which is used for corneal transplantation and some glaucoma surgery. One pair of donated eyes can provide treatment for up to 10 different people; each cornea can be transplanted, while each sclera (the white tissue around the eye) can be divided in four and used as a patch graft for some glaucoma surgery patients.

At the end of the visit, the president presented a cheque to Declan Flanagan, on behalf of Moorfields Eye Charity. In doing so she paid tribute to the hospital’s strong record in research and its place at the forefront of eyecare.