Introduction to the Department
The Ophthalmology Department offers a comprehensive range of ophthalmic subspecialties and comprises the following medical staff:
8 consultants, 2 staff grades, 2 specialty trainees, 3 LAS doctors, 2 FY2 doctors, 2 nurse practioners, 3 orthoptists and 1 optometrist.
The specialty trainee timetable is flexible and there may be the opportunity to modify sessions to suit the trainee’s needs if given sufficient notice. Luton & Dunstable Hospital offers excellent surgical exposure. There is a dedicated Eye Day Surgery Unit which runs 12 theatres sessions per week. All timetables offer at least 1 cataract surgery list per week and 1 subspecialty surgery list per week. There is also the opportunity to attend a laser clinic, minor ops/cyst clinic, intravitreal injection clinic and a botox clinic. All trainees will be required to perform 1 casualty session per week and participate in the on-call rota.
The corneal service is a tertiary service which takes referrals from all over the UK for complex surgical cornea, anterior segment reconstruction and laser refractive surgery for NHS disease indications.
Consultants and Subspecialty
The consultants and their sub-specialty include:-
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Mr Jonathan Barnes
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Paediatric ophthalmology and strabismus
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Mr Allon Barsam
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Cornea, cataract & laser refractive surgery
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Miss Binnie Sandhu
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Medical Retina and Uveitis
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Miss Susie Sarangapani
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Oculoplastics
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Mr Martin Snead
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Vitreo-retinal service (main appointment at Addenbrooke’s hospital)
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Miss Mala Subash
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Medical Retina
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Mr Venki Sundaram
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Medical Retina
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Mr Andrew Waldock
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Glaucoma
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Clinical Director
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Mr Jonathan Barnes
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College Tutor
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Mr Allon Barsam
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Audit Lead
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Mr Venki Sundaram
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Teaching
There is informal weekly teaching arranged within the department which is both trainee and consultant led. These sessions are flexible and dependent on the timetable of the trainees.
Regional teaching takes place at Addenbrooke’s Hospital and Ickworth House. There are 10 sessions per year run by each of the different subspecialty firms at Addenbrooke’s as well as 3 regional study days held at Ickworth House, Bury St Edmunds. These study days are hosted by each of the hospitals in the region on a rolling basis.
Ophthalmology Clinical Governance Meetings are held bi-monthly at Luton & Dunstable Hospital. Trainees are expected to undertake and present at least 1 audit during the year. Following each of these meetings, there is a consultant led teaching session.
Prize presentations
All trainees and fellows in the region are invited to present their clinical or laboratory research to compete for the annual Marie Comer or John Cairns prizes. These competitions are usually held in December. Information about these presentations are circulated prior to the time of the event.
Acute clinic and On-call commitments
Weekday daytime eye casualty referrals are generally directed to either the doctor covering the acute session or one of the nursing staff (between 9am-5pm).
Out of hours (between 5pm-9pm Monday to Friday and 9am-9pm Saturday & Sunday) is covered by the on call doctor. The current rota is a 1-in-5 to 1-in-6 commitment and is non-resident on call.
The acute clinic doctor is well supported by the consultants in clinic and out of hours by the ophthalmology consultant on call. The on call consultant rota is covered by all of the Luton ophthalmology consultants as well as those at Bedford Hospital.
Ophthalmology on call after 9pm is covered by the A&E department who are advised to consult with Moorfields Eye Hospital or Addenbrooke’s Hospital for any ophthalmic problems. There is also an acute diary into which A&E can refer patients.
Library
The COMET centre provides for both postgraduate and undergraduate medical education. The Trust’s Library can be found on the first floor in COMET and is stocked with a comprehensive and up to date selection of ophthalmic textbooks including the AAO basic and clinical science course text, as well as some CD ROMs. It also holds the following Ophthalmic Journals: Current Opinion in Ophthalmology (1993 to 2011), Eye (1990 to 2000), Ophthalmology (current year only - donation) and the Journal of Cataract & Refractive Surgery (2007 to current issue). Most texts which are not available as a hard copy should be available through your Athens account. COMET provides 24 hour access to these resources in addition to computing facilities.There are also a selection of departmental books, these can be accessed by asking one of the nursing staff.