What this service does
The team in this service offers a full range of treatments for children’s eye conditions, both in our dedicated children’s centre and in community locations.
Our children's service covers all major types of eye condition. These include squints (strabismus) and lazy eye (ambloyopia), refractive errors, problems with the eye socket, tear glands and lids, anophthalmia and microphthalmia (for children born without eyes or with very small eyes), cataracts, external and corneal diseases, genetic conditions, glaucoma, retinal disorders, and inflammatory eye conditions (uveitis).
Our team includes consultant ophthalmologists (eye doctors) and paediatricians (children's doctors), nurses, orthoptists and optometrists, as well as family support workers and play specialists.
Up to the age of 16, children are cared for in our hospital within a hospital – the Richard Desmond Children’s Eye Centre. This is a purpose-built facility connected to our main hospital in City Road in central London. It houses outpatient consulting rooms, a day-care ward and a children’s A&E department (weekdays, 9am to 4pm only). We also provide children's services in several of our satellite locations. Click on the links to the right for a full list.
How do I make an appointment with this service?
You should see your GP or optician in the first instance. If he or she decides that your eye condition needs to be investigated by more specialist staff, they will arrange for you to have an outpatient appointment with Moorfields or another eye-care provider. If you choose to be treated at Moorfields, we will send you a letter confirming the date, time and location of your appointment with us.
If a child is born with either anophthalmia (no eye/eyes) or microphthalmia (small eyes), the eye socket needs to be expanded to ensure that there is no residual orbital imbalance and to stimulate natural orbital and soft tissue development. This is achieved by various means over a period of days and weeks, depending on the individual case, to a point where a cosmetic prosthesis can be provided. This process needs repeating frequently to match the growth and stimulate socket expansion. Our ocularists and surgical team have a great deal of experience and expertise in these more difficult cases.
Other useful contacts
You should see your GP or optician in the first instance. If he or she decides that your eye condition needs to be investigated by more specialist staff, they will arrange for you to have an outpatient appointment with Moorfields or another eye-care provider. If you choose to be treated at Moorfields, we will send you a letter confirming the date, time and location of your appointment with us.
If a child is born with either anophthalmia (no eye/eyes) or microphthalmia (small eyes), the eye socket needs to be expanded to ensure that there is no residual orbital imbalance and to stimulate natural orbital and soft tissue development. This is achieved by various means over a period of days and weeks, depending on the individual case, to a point where a cosmetic prosthesis can be provided. This process needs repeating frequently to match the growth and stimulate socket expansion. Our ocularists and surgical team have a great deal of experience and expertise in these more difficult cases.