Emergency eye service

Our Emergency Eye Service is now located in The Eye Unit at St Helier Hospital, on the ground floor of B block (as of Monday 6 July 2015).

We provide care for patients with sight threatening eye conditions, requiring urgent specialist ophthalmic treatment. If you are concerned about your eyes or vision, we suggest you contact your GP, optometrist or pharmacist.

If you have urgent eye problems please phone 020 8296 3817, Monday to Friday 8.30am to 4.30pm.  A member of our Emergency Eye Service will assess the urgency of the condition and book a clinic appointment or provide advice on where to seek help, as clinically indicated.

We only see patients who present to the Emergency Eye Service without an appointment if they have a sight threatening eye condition requiring urgent treatment. Other patients will be offered a booked clinic appointment or re-directed to their GP, optometrist or pharmacist as appropriate. 

Clinicians referring to the Emergency Eye Service

Please use the following form to refer to the Emergency Eye Service via email or fax.

Emergency Eye Service referral form - June 2015 [docx] 165KB

If a patient needs same day treatment please telephone the Emergency Eye Service on 020 8296 3817.

Referrals via email, fax or telephone will be triaged by a senior clinician and appointments will be arranged for the patient with an appropriate timeframe.

Tips when attending the Emergency Eye Service

• Please bring your distance and reading glasses with you.
• Please avoid driving yourself. We often need to dilate your pupils with eye drops, reducing your ability to focus. This usually last around four hours.
• Your appointments may last several hours as a variety of different diagnostic tests are often required.
• We manage eye emergencies which may delay your appointment.

Patients with acute recurrent sight threatening eye disease

If you have a recurrence of your symptoms, please phone the Emergency Eye Service on 020 8296 3817. The urgency of your condition will be assessed and an appointment booked as necessary.

Patients with problems following recent eye surgery at Epsom or St Helier hospitals

If you are concerned about your eye following recent eye surgery or eye injections, please phone the Emergency Eye Service on 020 8296 3817. 

Out-of-hours ophthalmic care