Moorfields Eye Hospital’s Patient Support Service needs your help...

Did you know, every day 100 people in the UK receive the devastating news that they will lose their sight, and one out of three of those suffer from anxiety and isolation?

 

Sadly, for many people with sight loss, Christmas is an incredibly difficult time. Christmas is a uniquely visual period and for many the prospect of not being able to see beloved family open presents or appreciate the Christmas tree can be very upsetting and distressing. Imagine that, for the first time since childhood, you can’t ride a bike, or read a book.  When losing their sight, some patients can often experience feelings of shame and regression, which can lead to isolation and a loss of hope.

 

You can help by giving £10 to provide life-changing

counselling sessions.

 

Patients like Tom who was diagnosed with a degenerative eye condition called retinitis pigmentosa.  He was just 23.  He described his diagnosis as a bewildering experience which led, ultimately, to a loss of direction in his life. Tom told us, ‘my silence troubled my family and they knew I wasn’t coping…without the Patient Support Service at Moorfields I would probably still be cut off from the outside world, unemployed and spiralling into despair.’

 

If you can give a little more, £15 can give comfort and compassion to the patients who need us most.

 

Moorfields is a world class centre of excellence and we pride ourselves on being a ‘leading light’ in eye care.  We are also passionate about providing outstanding support to every patient, which is why we established our Patient Support Service a year ago. 

 

If you can give an extra generous amount of £25 you can help us to deliver a service that meets every patient’s needs, now and in the future.

 

Support services like counselling need to be as exceptional as all the other care we offer; and at Moorfields, we try to make sure that patients who receive bad news or an upsetting diagnosis have access to counselling support.  However, as the number of people treated at Moorfields increases year on year, we desperately need to meet this growing demand by expanding our Patient Support Service to accommodate the huge breadth of patients that we see who are battling with complex and challenging visual impairment.

Please give whatever you can afford, to help us provide this vital service to our patients who are struggling to come to terms with life-changing diagnoses.

Thank you for taking the time to read our Christmas appeal.