Moorfields Eye Unit is set to close at Darent Valley Hospital in Dartford which has prompted fears that patients will be unable to find the services they need.

The unit run by Moorfields Eye Hospital will close next month, and as yet there has no been no announcement on how eye health care will be delivered.

Darent Valley Hospital published a statement yesterday announcing: "We are very sorry to inform you that Moorfields Eye Hospital have made the hard decision to stop providing services at Darent Valley Hospital from the end of September 2020.

"Moorfields will be contacting all patients to offer them the option of continuing their care at one of their other locations, including London.

"For people who do not want to travel to London to continue their care with Moorfields, options are being developed for how this service can be delivered in the community, closer to people’s homes.

"We are pleased to have hosted Moorfields Eye Unit on our site for the past six years and we would like thank all the staff who have worked at Darent Valley Hospital, providing outpatient and surgical treatments for medical and vitreo-retinal conditions, cataracts and children’s eye conditions for the local area."

One anonymous patient, who described themselves as "very concerned and frightened", said some patients even feared they would go blind as a result.

They also feared staff could be made redundant, adding: "The staff have been poorly treated and do not know if they have a job after the closure.

"The same team at the unit gives a continuity of care which enables patients to trust the treatment they are recommending and provides an environment that allows patients to ask questions, however silly we may think they are.

"The team are highly professional, friendly and know their patients. This is very important where your eye sight is concerned.

"We as patients have no idea who is taking over our care. For patients this is very upsetting as our eyes are so precious.

"For the elderly patients of the Gravesham, Dartford and Swanley and surrounding areas this is devastating. Many will not be able to travel to other hospitals. What happens to their sight? Some have told their doctors it will mean they go blind."

They said moving patients to different hospitals during the Covid-19 crisis was an ill-considered decision, which they hoped would be overturned or halted until further discussion had taken place.

Moorfields Eye Hospital's chief operating officer John Quinn, said: "We can confirm that Moorfields will no longer be providing eye care for people at Darent Valley Hospital after the end of September 2020. We understand that some people currently being treated at Darent Valley are likely to be concerned about their future treatment and we are contacting every patient to offer them the option of continuing their care with us at our other locations, including City Road in the centre of London. Any patients not wishing to travel to these locations will be referred to another provider to continue their care locally. We know that this is a difficult time for our staff and are doing everything we can to support them."

Caroline Selkirk, Executive Director for Health Improvement, NHS Kent and Medway Clinical Commissioning Group, said: “We have been working closely with Moorfields Eye Hospital to ensure a smooth transition for patients. We are working with local providers to continue to provide a high-quality, local, ophthalmology service. Patients who need urgent eye care will be offered the choice to be seen by specialists at either Queen Mary’s Hospital in Sidcup or Maidstone Hospital. We will continue to fund the service for patients who wish to keep their care with Moorfields and travel to one of their London sites. We are also exploring options for how we can deliver this service in the community, closer to people’s homes - which many patients have told us is where they prefer to have their care.”

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