The University of Manchester celebrates on-campus hospital optometry teaching clinic

A partnership between the university and Manchester Royal Eye Hospital has seen the development of a hospital optometry teaching clinic with five clinical services

3 min read

A hospital optometrist is using a slit lamp to perform a sight test on a patient. A student in purple scrubs stands to the side and looks down a viewpiece to see what the optometrist is seeing. Another student observes across the room

University of Manchester

Kimberley Young

02 December 2025

The University of Manchester (UoM), in partnership with Manchester Royal Eye Hospital (MREH), has established a hospital optometry teaching clinic on-campus after a four-year process of development.

The facility will provide undergraduate and postgraduate students with hands-on clinical teaching experience with patients.

This marks the optometry school as one of the first in the UK to offer this level of specialist learning experience within its own clinical facilities.

The clinic has been designed to replicate the clinical environment of the NHS hospital site and is equipped with diagnostic imaging tools.

Students will be able to observe hospital eye care, while NHS patients will also benefit from clinical services.

Professor Phil Morgan, head of optometry at the university said that department was “extremely proud” to be one of the first optometry schools to offer this experience to students, adding: “This innovative development will ensure that we are delivering training of the highest quality, benefiting both patients and our future clinical staff.”

The clinic forms a key part of the UoM's four-year Master’s in optometry as, from their second year, students will receive face-to-face clinical teaching delivered by a multidisciplinary team.

Time spent in the clinic will contribute to student’s 48-week clinical placement requirement.

Professor Ashley Blom, vice-president and Dean of the Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health, congratulated those involved in the development of the clinics, sharing that this “sets the standard for optometric education across the UK.”

The work to begin providing hospital optometry services at the university began four years ago with the launch of a single sub-specialty glaucoma clinic.

This has expanded over summer 2025 to include five specialist services: uveitis, enhanced diabetes assessment clinic, paediatrics, optometry-led glaucoma assessment, and comprehensive clinics.

Plans are underway to introduce additional specialty services within the next 12 months.

The partnership between the university and the hospital was recognised for its teaching collaboration in 2023 with a Collaborative Award for Teaching Excellence by Advance HE, alongside a commendation from the General Optical Council.

James Laybourne, hospital medical director at MREH, commented: “We are delighted to support this award-winning teaching clinic to go from strength-to-strength by expanding the range of ophthalmic subspecialties it provides.

“This unique, award-winning and collaborative service enhances the teaching and training of future eye healthcare professionals, enabling generations of patients to benefit from their improved expertise both in hospital and community settings,” he added.

Donia Burhani, a third-year optometry student at UoM commented: “What I enjoyed about that clinic was that we got to see patients with more severe cases of conditions that we have learned about like dry eye and conjunctivitis, which I found really interesting to see.”

“It was my first time seeing things like punctal plugs and its insertion, so these types of clinics I believe are really useful, since it broadens your idea of conditions and management options,” Burhani shared, adding that everything was explained in detail by the clinician.

Rahul Verma, a third-year optometry student at the university, also highlighted the benefits of observing alongside a glaucoma specialist: “Although we do many lectures on the subject, seeing the signs first-hand is definitely more valuable.”

“It is also very interesting to see how we manage the patient in a more holistic approach,” Verma added.

Bringing a new clinic to life through collaboration, determination, and technical progress

Paul Rogers, senior lecturer in optometry and one of the project co-ordinators for the MREH and UoM clinic, reflected on the process of developing the clinic.

When I look back at the past four years, I am struck by how transformative this project has been — both for our clinic and for me personally. From the outset, it was an exciting challenge, and I feel privileged to have been involved from the very beginning. Alongside colleagues from MREH, we started this journey with, at times, nothing more than paper records, limited imaging capabilities, and no dedicated IT infrastructure. It required us to strip everything back to basics.

The process was far from straightforward. We encountered obstacles in almost every area: patient logistics, IT limitations, the hospital-wide transition to electronic records, and the general complexities of establishing a new clinical service. Yet at each stage, we maintained a positive mindset. This attitude became essential, enabling us to work through each issue and gradually bring the service closer to our vision.

One of the most significant hurdles was working to bring full NHS IT integration into the optometry department. Achieving this meant that clinicians could replicate the digital environment of the main hospital site eye clinic, and it allowed us to connect imaging equipment in a way that made data transfer both secure and efficient. This was a real turning point for the service and a moment where the scale of our progress became clear.

Four years later, we now have five fully established clinical services. Watching students move through these clinics, gaining exposure to different sub-specialties, has been one of the most gratifying aspects of the entire process. Their feedback has consistently been positive, and seeing their enthusiasm after a session makes every challenge we faced feel worthwhile.

Perhaps the most significant outcome for me is how this work now supports our new MSci programme. We are able to offer students hospital placements from the start of their second year, giving them early, meaningful learning experience within a secondary care eye clinic. Being able to provide this level of clinical immersion — alongside highly specialised clinicians — feels like a testament to how far the project has come.

Reflecting on this journey, I recognise not just the logistical and technical progress we have made, but also the collective determination and collaborative spirit that brought the clinic to life. It has been an experience I am genuinely proud to have been part of.