Service at Bexhill Hospital wins national award

A service for patients with age related macular degeneration based at Bexhill Hospital has won a prestigious national award. The Nurse Injecting Service, which was introduced earlier this year, has won the Macular Society’s Clinical Service of the Year Award.

Age related macular degeneration is the most common form of sight loss in the UK.  Wet age-related macular degeneration can be treated with regular injections into the eye to stabilise the condition and protect a person’s sight. Previously these injections could only be given by ophthalmologists but the introduction of the new service at Bexhill has seen three nurse injectors trained to give the treatment. This pathway has been in place and tested in some other units in the UK.

Mr Shahram Kashani, Consultant Ophthalmologist said: “Training our nurse injectors has helped us to provide an efficient service to manage the large number of patients who require regular treatment for this devastating condition. I am proud of our achievements and look forward to continuing to modernise this service to cope with the high demand. It was a real team effort.”

The team attended the Macular Society’s Annual Conference in London to collect their award. The Macular Society is the national charity for anyone affected by central vision loss.  The Society provides free information and support to improve lives today and funds research so that macular disease can one day become a thing of the past.

The Macular Society’s annual award scheme was made possible this year through the generous sponsorship of Vision Aid.

For information, advice or support concerning macular degeneration, contact the Macular Society’s helpline on 0300 3030 111 or email help@macularsociety.org