Who’s who: staff in the paediatric service

When visiting Moorfields you may meet a number of different staff involved in your child’s care. All are professionally trained to work together to look after you and your child and answer any questions you may have about your child’s condition or treatment.

Ophthalmologists

Ophthalmologists are doctors who specialise in eye disease and surgery. An ophthalmologist will have overall responsibility for the care your child receives while at Moorfields. Consultants may specialise and become highly skilled in one area of ophthalmology for example, glaucoma, refractive surgery or retinal surgery.

Orthoptists

An orthoptist is uniquely skilled in assessing eye problems that relate to the movement of the eyes and how the eyes work together. This includes conditions such as strabismus, amblyopia and diplopia. If it is thought that your child has one of these conditions a detailed orthoptic examination will help to identify the underlying condition and any non-surgical treatment that may be required.

Optometrists

An optometrist is a trained professional who will examine and test eye sight. They will also advise on visual problems and prescribe, fit and supply spectacles or contact lenses. Optometrists are trained to recognise eye disease and will refer such cases where necessary.

A small number of children will require contact lenses due to the nature of their eye condition. We have optometrists who can see children from birth in order to fit contact lenses when required. You, as parents will be taught to insert and remove the contact lens as well as how to care for the contact lenses and your child’s eyes. This will require frequent follow up visits in the first few months.

Dispensing opticians

Dispensing opticians help children obtain the right glasses. Due to the numbers of children we see at Moorfields, the dispensing optician will have a lot of experience of seeing children and with unusual prescriptions.  If, however, you are not able to wait to see the optician, you can request a prescription and take this to your own optician in order to have a pair of glasses made for your child.

Clinic clerks

The clinic clerks help administer the care patients receive. They are responsible for the clinic reception, taking telephone calls and booking and cancelling appointments. Clinic clerks ensure your case notes are available to the doctors on the day that you are seen and oversee the management and recording of patient information.

Play specialists

The play specialists will try to make your child’s visit to the hospital as pleasant as possible. They engage children in activities within designated play areas to help them make the adjustment of being in hospital and undergoing tests and treatments.

Nurses

The nurses in the paediatric service are specially trained to work with children and children’s eye conditions. They help administer treatment and look after the wellbeing of the patients visiting the hospital.