Hospital and Specialty Optometrists Conference

Alison is an experienced hospital optometrist, pre-registration supervisor and College of Optometrists examiner. She has diplomas in contact lens practice and glaucoma and  qualified as an IP optometrist in 2009.

Her clinical areas of work include complex contact lenses, glaucoma, anterior segment and uveitis. Previous presentations include workshops and peer review sessions on contact lenses, glaucoma, uveitis and keratoconus. Publications include articles on paediatric and complex contact lens fitting; management of keratoconus; and therapeutic management of uveitis and systemic associations.

Andrew is a consultant optometrist at St Paul’s Eye Unit, Liverpool, where he is currently divisional head ophthalmology support services. He has over 45 years’ service in the hospital eye service and was appointed as a head of department at the age of 27.

In 2018, after becoming general manager of St Paul’s Eye Unit, he undertook formal management qualifications by completing an MBA, becoming a chartered manager and fellow of the Chartered Management Institute. His career interests have involved advancing the role of hospital optometrists, training and development, including hosting 97 full time pre-registration optometrists, applying technology, and producing custom scleral lenses for traumatised or unusual shaped eyes.

Andrew has been secretary of AOP Hospital Optometrists Committee since 1991.

Aneel is principal contact lens optometrist and principal cornea and external disease optometrist at Moorfields Eye Hospital. He has almost 20 years’ experience in all aspects of medical lenses and currently leads both the corneal and scleral lens clinics.

He brings 15 years’ experience in management of corneal disease within the external disease service. Postgraduate qualifications include independent prescribing and Master’s in clinical optometry. He is actively involved in teaching all aspects of medical lens management and regularly lectures at national and international conferences. Previous work includes numerous other hospital extended roles and community practice.

Angela is an experienced independent prescribing optometrist who has worked within the NHS and university practice in several settings. Earlier in her career she also enjoyed working as a locum optometrist in community practice. Angela is currently clinical lead (glaucoma) at Royal Gwent Hospital, Aneurin Bevan University Health Board, and also holds roles as a medical optometrist at Bristol Eye Hospital and in the single point of access (SPoA) team at Moorfields Eye Hospital.

Angela has a passion for clinical education and training and until recently worked at Cardiff University as programme lead in independent prescribing, and module leader for the higher certificate and diploma in glaucoma. She was also glaucoma lead for Cardiff University’s award-winning optometrist-led teach and treat glaucoma clinic, providing clinical placements for glaucoma higher certificate students.

Angela is proud to serve on the College of Optometrists’ council as representative for Wales as well as the College’s education and standards committee. Angela’s clinical qualifications include the College of Optometrists’ diploma in glaucoma and professional certificate in medical retina, as well as the diploma in therapeutics.

She also holds postgraduate qualifications in education at the Open University namely the PGCert in higher education and the Master of Arts in Education, and is a fellow of the Higher Education Academy.

Anitta is a specialist optometrist based at Moorfields Eye Hospital and has a range of clinical experience, including in medical retina and injection clinics. She also leads the fundamental medical retina module for the Institute of Ophthalmology, UCL.

Anitta has experience in research projects investigating how services between primary and secondary care can be improved, and the effectiveness of artificial intelligence in OCT to aid diagnosis and management of retinal disease. She is also a policy advisory panel member for the College of Optometrists.

Ashish joined Moorfields Eye Hospital in 2013 as their first optometry Darzi fellow in clinical leadership, where he worked on projects with a focus on facilitating innovation in healthcare systems and service delivery.

He subsequently worked in several different clinics across the trust, specialising in medical retina. He led MSc level qualifications in medical retina at UCL and Moorfields and developed the first College of Optometrists accredited higher certificate in medical retina.

Alongside his clinical and teaching work, he has held various roles in digital health, including as a clinical informatics fellow at UCLP and NHS Navigator for the DigitalHealth.London accelerator programme.

He is currently the optometry lead for medical retina at Moorfields, co-director of a private optometry practice and also consults for digital health technology companies.

Deirdre has 20 years’ experience as an optometrist in Belfast Health and Social Care Trust. She is an experienced independent prescriber and currently works in eye casualty as well as corneal, glaucoma and contact lens clinics within the Trust. She has a particular interest in corneal disease, therapeutic bandage contact lenses and in using confocal microscopy as a diagnostic tool.

Deirdre is regularly involved in audit, quality improvement and postgraduate teaching within Belfast Trust. She has presented numerous lectures, peer review sessions and posters in a variety of settings and also holds a part-time lecturer position at Ulster University, teaching on optometry undergraduate, masters and independent prescribing courses.

Cindy is a consultant optometrist at Manchester Royal Eye Hospital and honorary clinical lecturer in the university department of ophthalmology, University of Manchester. She is also a visiting consultant to Mater Dei Hospital in Malta.

Her clinical interests include keratoconus, speciality contact lens fitting, emergency eye care and diagnostic ultrasonography. She has presented nationally and internationally on these areas. Cindy has held a number of national roles which include president and chair of the board of trustees of the College of Optometrists.

She is currently president elect of the World Council of Optometry and is a past president of the European Council of Optometry and Optics. She was awarded life fellowship of the College of Optometrists and an honorary doctor of science degree from Aston University in 2019 in recognition of her outstanding contribution to the profession of optometry.

Ian is clinical editor of Optometry Today, where he is responsible for commissioning the clinical content for the journal; and head of education for the Association of Optometrists, overseeing content delivery for the events portfolio.

In addition, he is a visiting lecturer at Aston University where he completed his undergraduate optometry degree, a professional doctorate, and a PhD. He is also a qualified nutrition coach and is currently undertaking an MSc in sleep medicine at the University of Oxford.

John is an associate professor at the International Centre for Eye Health, LSHTM, where he is the programme director for the MSc in public health for eye care, a programme offering public health research and epidemiological training to eye care professionals. Prior to that role, he was the principal investigator on the RCOphth Way Forward project, identifying and disseminating progressive working practices across the UK.

Clinically, he is a consultant ophthalmologist at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust where he delivers cataract surgical training and is responsible for emergency eye care provision. He is a founder member and former vice president of the British Emergency Eye Care Society.

John is also the clinical lead for the Royal College of Ophthalmologists’ National Ophthalmology Database (NOD) Cataract Audit, providing quality assurance for cataract surgery in the UK.

Natasha is currently working across several clinics, over multiple hospital sites in Northern Ireland, as a specialist IP optometrist, while also serving as a principal single point of access (SPoA) optometrist at Moorfields Eye Hospital. Her clinical expertise spans advanced glaucoma clinics, paediatric ophthalmology, general ophthalmology, referral triage and cataract pre/post-operative assessments. Natasha has also been heavily involved in providing a high standard of optometric educational events in Northern Ireland. Her varied career also includes paediatric vision research; writing and reviewing journal articles; and lecturing at Ulster University.

Navneet is an experienced optometrist holding the College of Optometrists’ diploma in independent prescribing and higher certificate in glaucoma. He is currently the education lead for Thea Pharmaceuticals UK where he is responsible for the creation and delivery of CPD activities. His clinical experience includes working in various hospital eye service clinics providing glaucoma care, post-op cataract care and supporting ophthalmologists in medical retina and general clinics. He has also worked in primary care and refractive surgery clinics.

Vijay is the head of optometry at Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Trust. In addition to medical contact lens clinics, Vijay works in extended role clinics in cornea, cataract, urgent care and early keratoconus management clinics. He was involved in setting up the optometrist-led keratoconus service at Moorfields and other optometry-led clinics. He has lectured both nationally and internationally on medical contact lenses, keratoconus management, non-medical cataract clinics, referral refinement for optometrists and glaucoma tube assessment for optometrists.

Elizabeth is a principal optometrist at Moorfields Eye Hospital, where she brings over eight years of specialised experience in the hospital’s medical contact lens service. Her clinical expertise lies in managing complex corneal conditions, including ectasia and other pathologies, using a wide range of lens modalities such as rigid gas permeable (RGP), mini-scleral, full-diameter scleral, therapeutic and cosmetic lenses.

Elizabeth is an independent prescriber and advanced clinical practitioner and holds a master’s degree in optometry and ophthalmology from University College London. Her role spans a diverse range of extended clinical services, and in addition to her clinical responsibilities, she plays a key role in the organisation and delivery of Moorfields Education’s commercial courses.

Emma graduated from Cardiff University in 2015 and completed her pre-registration year at Moorfields Eye Hospital. She continued her extended role training as a resident optometrist and now is a principal optometrist in the contact lens service and optometry-led cataract service.She has a keen interest in contact lenses, paediatrics and research while also enjoying working in corneal, glaucoma and cataract clinics.

After gaining her independent prescribing qualification, she also completed the Moorfields laser course and now delivers YAG laser capsulotomies in the cataract service. Emma currently works in both adult and paediatric contact lens clinics and is the lead optometrist on an ongoing contact lens research project into a new lens design for keratoconus led by Dan Ehrlich.

Hemesh is a principal optometrist in the contact lens, cataract and external disease service at Moorfields Eye Hospital. He completed his pre-registration training at the Royal Liverpool University Hospital and moved to Moorfields to take on a specialist optometrist role. His current role involves the training of pre-registration and resident optometrists in contact lenses and keratoconus, managing both pre- and post-operative cataract patients, and medical retina face-to-face and virtual clinics.

Janice is principal optometrist at Moorfields Eye Hospital where she has worked in a variety of specialist clinics since 1996.

Since 2013, when she returned after a having a family, she developed a special interest in medica retina and since then, has been working alongside consultants in the clinics gaining a wide variety of experience and knowledge; this led her to take up a position teaching as the lead for the specialist medical retina module at the Institute of Ophthalmology, UCL.

She has strong connections with community optometrists, supporting collaborative care, as the lead for the shared care cataract pathway at Potters Bar, one of Moorfields outreach clinics.

Jenny is deputy head of optometry in the Belfast Health and Social Care Trust where she has worked for 25 years. She has a range of experience across many aspects of hospital optometry and is an independent prescriber. In recent years, her clinical workload has centred around adult and paediatric corneal and contact lens clinics as well as confocal microscopy patients.

Her current managerial responsibilities are managing low vision services and eye care for adults with learning disabilities as well as optometric input to the macular service and Northern Ireland diabetic eye screening programme. At present, she co-ordinates the IP clinical placement programme for community optometrists in the Trust. She has been involved in many audit, service evaluation and improvement projects, contributed to clinical research projects and presented orally and in poster format at various conferences and meetings.

Katie is a principal optometrist at Moorfields Eye Hospital, bringing nearly a decade of specialised experience in hospital-based medical contact lens services. Over the past nine years, she has developed particular expertise in fitting a wide range of lenses – including RGP, mini-scleral, full-diameter scleral, therapeutic, and cosmetic lenses – for patients with corneal ectasia and other complex ocular pathologies.

In addition to her role at Moorfields, she serves as an advanced clinical optometrist in the cornea clinic at Guy’s and St Thomas’ Hospital. She is also an independent prescriber and advanced clinical practitioner, holding a master’s in optometry and ophthalmology from University College London.

Her clinical background spans a variety of extended role clinics, including external disease, cataract, and accident & emergency. She has presented case studies at both the UKISCRS 2024 and the ESCRS 2025 conferences.

Lucy started her career as a pre-reg optometrist at the Queen’s Medical Centre in Nottingham, continuing to work there after qualification and then as a specialist optometrist. She moved back to the North West in 2018 and is currently the lead optometrist at Arrowe Park Hospital on the Wirral. Lucy has worked in a wide variety of core and extended role clinics during her career but is currently mainly involved in glaucoma and paediatrics.

Matthew is an independent prescribing optometrist based part-time at Moorfields Eye Hospital, where he works as principal optometrist within the contact lens service and the A&E department.

He also works as clinical director of the Linklater & Warren group of independent practices in the South East. Matthew's professional interests include corneal and scleral RGP lens fitting, myopia management, anterior segment pathology and acute eye care.

He sits on the Bexley, Bromley and Greenwich local optical committee and is a director of Primary Ophthalmic Solutions; the primary eyecare company that delivers the comprehensive optometrist delivered community eyecare services in South East London.

Neil Nathwani is currently a principal optometrist at Moorfields Eye Hospital, where his expertise is channelled in the field of glaucoma. He holds the diploma accreditation in glaucoma from the College of Optometrists and continues to work within the NHS, where he has administered over 1,500 selective laser trabeculoplasty (SLT) treatments over the course of six years.

In addition to his clinical responsibilities, Neil has a passion for education and teaching. He serves as the lead for the diploma in glaucoma module at Moorfields Eye Hospital–University College London and holds the academic title of honorary clinical lecturer. Neil also holds fellowship status with the Higher Education Academy.

He has been a core member of the LiGHT trial, investigating the efficacy of SLT in the treatment of glaucoma, and has been a co-author in several high-profile publications.

Augusto is clinical professor of ophthalmology at Queen’s University Belfast and honorary consultant ophthalmologist at the local NHS Trust. He has surgical expertise in complex glaucoma and cataract cases. His academic interests aim to improve eye health by investigating the effectiveness, safety and efficiency of new technologies for eye diseases.

Augusto has received over £15m of research funds as chief investigator or co-applicant from MRC, NIHR-EME, NIHR-HTA, Horizon 2020, and Wellcome Trust, mostly for clinical trials. He has published over 250 peer-reviewed papers, over 20 book chapters and edited three books. Current leadership positions include membership of the NIHR HTA CET funding committee; NICE interventional procedures advisory committee; clinical guidelines committee of the College of Optometrists; and executive management committee of Evidence Synthesis Ireland.

Rachel has been a consultant paediatric ophthalmologist in the UK since 2010 and was appointed as professor of special needs and learning disability eye care by the University of Bradford in 2020. She has published guidance on eye care for learning disability for national organisations and developed quality standards for eye departments. Most recently, her work has focused on special school visual assessment, tools for assessing visual function in children with complex needs (the ViBe Matrix).

Rachel has a passion for ‘making it easier’ – easier to understand cerebral visual impairment (CVI), easier to diagnose, easier to offer support to children and families, and most of all, making it easier to see. She has worked with NHS England and partners to establish a national Special School Eye Care Service for children with special needs and has recently led a team in producing national guidelines for the role of the eye clinic in assessment of a child with suspect CVI.

Her current research interests are in identifying atypical visual behaviours as early indicators of neurodiversity.

Richard has been working as a consultant ophthalmologist at Queens Medical Centre since 2015. Over the last 20 years ophthalmic health has been both his academic and professional focus. A first-class degree in optometry led to a greater interest in the treatment of eye conditions and spurred Richard on to train in medicine.

Richard completed his specialist training at The Queen’s Medical Centre, Nottingham, gaining his fellowship to the Royal College of Ophthalmologists quickly. A fellowship in glaucoma at the renowned Birmingham Midland Eye Centre followed in 2014. In 2015 Richard gained his substantive consultant post as a glaucoma specialist at the Queens Medical Centre acting as part of the team providing tertiary glaucoma care for the East Midlands.

Along with the management of glaucoma, Richard is an accomplished cataract surgeon and general ophthalmologist. Richard is the current Royal College tutor for trainee ophthalmologists in the area, training and supporting current candidates on the specialist training programme. Richard has extensive research published and continues to strive to develop new techniques and procedures.

He was one of the first to perform the iStent procedure in the region and maintains a keen interest in the development of minimally-invasive glaucoma surgery which is a rapidly expanding area of development; this is in addition to performing more traditional trabeculectomy and tube shunt surgeries. Richard continues to perform complex cataract surgeries and is involved with the surgical training of more junior ophthalmologists.

Richard is a consultant partner at Newmedica Nottingham and is the clinical lead for Newmedica’s glaucoma service.

Shreeti is a consultant optometrist for the contact lens service at Moorfields Eye Hospital where she has worked for over 10 years. She has experience in both hospital and private contact lens practice having previously worked at Oxford Eye Hospital and in an independent practice in Oxfordshire.

Shreeti has a specialist interest in designing RGP corneal lenses, sclerals lenses and paediatric contact lenses. She has a diploma in clinical optometry, is an independent prescriber and is a pre-registration supervisor. She also works as an extended role optometrist in the A&E department at Moorfields.