Lynne Hadley, Ophthalmology Matron for East Kent Hospitals, has recently returned from a working holiday to Nepal. Lynne’s visit has enabled some of East Kent’s old equipment to be given a new lease of life.
Tonopens – a large pen shaped device used to measure intra ocular pressure in most UK hospitals – were made redundant in EKHUFT after ophthalmology staff had successfully put forward their case for improved equiment. These devices have now been donated to two hospitals in Nepal – the Kakarvitta Eye Hospital and the Birat Eye Hospital. Together, these two hospitals on the Indian/Nepal borders provide healthcare to around 100,000 patients per year, much of which is from charitable funds, including eye screening to the tea estate workers and rickshaw drivers of the region.
“Intra ocular pressure is a baseline measurement used in ophthalmology and essential in the treatment of Glaucoma, as well as other conditions,” explains Lynne. “Like blood pressure, it is almost always symptomless and until now it has been very difficult to measure in Nepal.”
