West Sussex: Hospital trust calls for people to donate corneas

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People can donate their corneas even if they have had cataract surgery or wear glasses

Jacob Panons

BBC News, South East

A hospital trust is calling on people to donate their corneas in response to a national shortage.

Queen Victoria Hospital NHS Foundation Trust (QVH) in West Sussex, which carries out about 150 corneal transplants every year, made the plea.

The NHS says "almost anyone" can donate their corneas, even if they have had cataract surgery or wear glasses.

Dr Nigel Jordan, head of department at the QVH eye bank, said: "We see the difference a donated cornea can make, whether that is saving someone’s eye, improving their vision, or enabling someone to see again."

The cornea is the clear part at the front of the eye that lets light in.

When a cornea is damaged or diseased, light can no longer enter the eye as normal.

The NHS said the QVH had a "world-renowned" eye bank which retrieved corneas from people after they died and prepared them for transplantation.

The team works across East and West Sussex, Surrey and Kent and provides education to medical professionals.

The QVH, in East Grinstead, was "one of very few" hospitals in the country that also carried out corneal transplants for children, the NHS said.

People can need a cornea transplant due to disease, injury, scarring, inherited conditions and age.

Dr Jordan said: “Nationally there are not enough people donating their corneas, meaning surgeons like the ones we have here at QVH cannot perform as many operations as they need to."

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