Children’s services (paediatrics)

This section outlines our full range of treatments for children’s eye conditions. Please also look in our coronavirus section for eye care tips and the latest news on our services

Appointment information020 7566 2715

Paediatrics service

Richard Desmond Children's Eye Centre at Moorfields Eye Hospital

3 Peerless Street

London

EC1V 9EZ

What this service does

The team in this service offers a full range of treatments for children’s eye conditions, both in our dedicated children’s centre and in community locations.

Our children's service covers all major types of eye condition. These include squints (strabismus) and lazy eye (ambloyopia), refractive errors, problems with the eye socket, tear glands and lids, anophthalmia and microphthalmia (for children born without eyes or with very small eyes), cataracts, external and corneal diseases, genetic conditions, glaucoma, retinal disorders, and inflammatory eye conditions (uveitis).

Our team includes consultant ophthalmologists (eye doctors) and paediatricians (children's doctors), nurses, orthoptists and optometrists, as well as family support workers and play specialists.

Up to the age of 16, children are cared for in our hospital within a hospital – the Richard Desmond Children’s Eye Centre. This is a purpose-built facility connected to our main hospital in City Road in central London. It houses outpatient consulting rooms, a day-care ward and a children’s A&E department (weekdays, 9am to 4pm only). We also provide children's services in several of our satellite locations. Click on the links to the right for a full list.

How do I make an appointment with this service?

You should see your GP or optician in the first instance. If he or she decides that your eye condition needs to be investigated by more specialist staff, they will arrange for you to have an outpatient appointment with Moorfields or another eye-care provider. If you choose to be treated at Moorfields, we will send you a letter confirming the date, time and location of your appointment with us.

Other useful contacts

We run a special children's A&E, just for eye conditions, which is based in the Richard Desmond Children's Eye Centre. Our children's A&E provides treatment for urgent, sight-threatening problems and for issues that cannot wait for a routine appointment with your GPs. It is open during the day, Monday to Friday. In the evening, overnight or at weekends, children can be treated for eye emergencies in our main A&E department, based in Moorfields Eye Hospital in City Road. The main A&E is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

You can also get information and advice on eye conditions and treatments from our paediatric telephone helpline on 0207 566 2209. Staffed by experienced ophthalmic paediatric trained nurses, the helpline is open Monday to Friday, 10am-1pm, and from 2pm-4pm. At busy times, we might not be able to answer your call straight away - please bear with us and call back a little later if this happens.

Paediatric eye department FAQs during COVID 19

This FAQ page aims to answer questions parents may have concerning their child's appointment during Covid-19. It also offers advice concerning specific eye conditions and guidance regarding urgent eye problems.

Paediatric eye department FAQs

Please see the link below to our new leaflet regarding admission advice for children and young people booked for surgery in the children’s ward of Richard Desmond Children’s Eye Centre (RDCEC)

Paediatric advice leaflet to pre-op families