Ophthalmology

Our Emergency Eye Service is run by trained nurses and medical staff.  All referrals for this service must come via the GP or Optometrists using the Eye Emergency Referral Form. Our ophthalmologists also operate an on-call out-of-hours service and can be contacted through the Hospital Switchboard.

We carry out modern eye surgery at the Royal Cornwall Hospital in Truro and West Cornwall Hospital in Penzance for conditions as diverse as eyelid diseases, squints and cataracts.

These are usually carried out in a day and patients do not stay overnight.

Our surgical results are consistently as good as, or better than, national standards in the UK.

As part of the ophthalmology team, we assess, diagnose and treat babies and children with suspected squint (lazy eye), amblyopia (reduced vision in one or both eyes) and problems with their eyelids.

We assess and can help people who are experiencing double vision using glasses and prisms, including those who have had a stroke.

We specialise in defects of binocular vision and eye movement disorders including nystagmus, and we monitor Glaucoma patients.

We are also specialists in assessing children and adults with learning difficulties.

We also provide the school vision screening for the county. We assess the vision of children aged between 4-5 years old within school.

We provide clinics at the following locations: Royal Cornwall Hospital, West Cornwall Hospital, Camborne/Redruth Hospital, Falmouth Hospital, Bodmin Hospital, St Austell Community Hospital, Helston Hospital, and Newquay Hospital.

To contact us please email rch-tr.RCHTOrthoptic@nhs.net or phone 01872 253287

We are also part of the widely­-praised Cornwall Diabetic Retinopathy Screening Service (DRSS). This service prevents blindness due to diabetes by examining and, if necessary, efficiently treating over 90% of all diabetic patients in the county. You can find out more about the Diabetic Eye Screening Programme on our Diabetes page.

Your GP or Optometrist will be able to refer you to Ophthalmology.

Referral for Wet Age-Related macular degeneration

If you would like to refer a patient with suspected Wet Age-related macular degeneration:

• GPs please refer via ERS enclosing an Optometrists report.
• Optometrists please use the DeMac form (direct e-referrals to macular service and email the form to rcht.demac@nhs.net).

Specialty Lead

Ashish Patwardhan

The Eye Unit is on the ground floor of the Tower Block at Royal Cornwall Hospital in Treliske, Truro.

From Tower Block entrance

As you enter the Tower Block, turn left, continue past reception and the friends cafe until the lifts are in front of you. Turn left and the Eye Unit is straight ahead.

From Trelawney Main Entrance

If you enter from the main hospital entrance, go past the cafe (on your right) and WH Smiths (on your left). Head to the end of the corridor and go down the stairs or take the lift to the ground floor. Go left and this will bring you to the Lloyds Pharmacy shop (on your left). Continue along this corridor, right to the end and then turn right to enter the Tower Block. The Eye Unit is on your right, just after the toilet and before you reach Tower reception.

Find out more about coming to the Royal Cornwall Hospital.