DHCC welcomes Moorfields Eye Hospital

A private branch of the world-renowned Moorfields Eye Hospital will open in the Al Razi Medical Complex at phase one of Dubai Healthcare City (DHCC) on April 1, 2007. Moorfields Eye Hospital Dubai (MEHD) is a commercial venture between Tatweer, a subsidiary of Dubai Holding, and the UK’s Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust.

MEHD will be the first overseas branch of Moorfields Eye Hospital, founded in 1804, the oldest and largest specialist eye hospital in the world.

Last year the hospital carried out over 23,000 operations. “We are a world-renowned centre for ophthalmic treatment, teaching and research,” said Ian Balmer, CEO of the Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust. “The Dubai branch will provide the same high standards of care that are available in London. It is a branch of Moorfields, not a startup offshoot.”

A total of 32 staff, including three consultant surgeons, will welcome their first patients at the beginning of May. In order to ensure integration with its London headquarters, four staff who are currently employed by the Trust in London, are moving to MEHD and visiting consultants, while tele-medicine links will also ensure patients receive diagnosis and treatment.

MEHD will also be equipped with the latest eye care technology. Sir Thomas Boyd-Carpenter, chairman of the Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, said the reason for opening a branch in Dubai was that it currently treats a large number of patients in the UK from the UAE and the Middle East. “Dubai is a thriving metropolis at the heart of the Gulf region and so Moorfields Dubai will serve as a great centre for eye care.”

As well as being a commercial venture in order to support NHS services in the UK, MEHD will support postgraduate teaching by working closely with the Harvard Medical School Centre in Dubai.

MEHD will also participate in research with the Institute of Ophthalmology in London and other academic partners. DHCC is the region’s first integrated healthcare free zone.

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