Moorfields’ Stars of 2024 

Excited finalists came together for the awards at The Honourable Artillery Company in Moorgate close to Moorfields Eye Hospital.

Moorfields’ and UCL’s world-leading reputation is a product of an incredible workforce. Moorfields received hundreds of entries, showing colleagues’ passion and dedication in providing excellent eye care and innovations in research - changing patients’ lives.

We’re excited to support two awards for Moorfields Eye Charity champion, and innovation and improvement.

The charity champion award is our opportunity to thank staff and volunteers for their support whether through fundraising activities, being an ambassador for the charity, showcasing what we do or helping in another way.

And the finalists are:

Amani El-Bushra, deputy chief pharmacist

Amani has taken part in Moorfields Eye Charity’s fundraising walk Eye to Eye seven times, including for their 10th anniversary this year. Her annual dedication is exceptional, and her efforts to encourage her team to join her are exemplary. This helps create a stronger Moorfields community and a strong pharmacy team who are supportive of each other. Their fundraising has been amazing.

Steven Howland, patient experience coordinator

Steven has been supportive of Moorfields Eye Charity on multiple occasions. He is always very helpful – taking in donations, flagging supporters and would-be supporters and has proactively suggested ways to enhance the charity’s presence through the charity hub. He is a helpful and friendly face for both patients and charity staff – ready to help out and support when needed.

Anthony Khawaja, professor of ophthalmology and honorary consultant ophthalmic surgeon, UCL and Moorfields Eye Hospital

Anthony has gone above and beyond with his support for donor events and meetings as well as referring grateful patients. He invited Moorfields Eye Charity to present at the European Leadership Development Programme in Cambridge. He also played a critical role in an event held by an influential major donor, which raised £164,000, appearing in a film and inspiring donors.

Congratulations to Anthony Khawaja for being the winner of the Moorfields Eye Charity champion award!

This award recognises pioneering innovations and improvements which benefit Moorfields’ patients.

And the finalists are:

The single point of access team

The team’s achievements are simply phenomenal. Since launching in July 2023, over 14,600 referrals have been processed across North Central London (NCL) and North East London (NEL) and referral processing time has reduced from 11 days to just 2 hours. This has been an agile project and had many challenges, but these have been tackled with enthusiasm, passion and patient focus.

The service is continuously improving, innovating and expanding and has been so successful that NEL have agreed to continue the pilot for a further year and was awarded a five-year contract from NCL to continue to expand the services we provide.

The contact lens manufacturing team

Our trust values are easily recognisable in the work of the contact lens team. The team has worked hard to develop the Moorfields range of lenses, produced in-house, and gaining regulatory approval for an innovative scleral lens that is new to the UK market.

Having the clinical expertise of the optometrists working closely alongside the manufacturing, means optometrists can modify and produce lenses efficiently for patients, often changing manufacturing schedules to accommodate urgent clinical cases, whilst delivering cost savings for the trust.

The medical retina multidisciplinary team

People and professionalism are at the heart of the medical retina multidisciplinary team. Patient and staff feedback is sought, listened to and incorporated. The team champion diversity and equity to support optimal patient care to overcome potential barriers, for example – music as therapy, hand holding, extending clinics and walk-ins in the injection services.

Everyone is treated with dignity and privacy, resulting in the service being described as friendly and considerate. The team has focused on empowering, training and retaining staff to help them deliver more than 55,000 injections in the past year and see some outstanding clinical outcomes.

Congratulations to the single point of access team for being the winner of the innovation and improvement award!

The incredible work of every nominee has been an inspiration, and makes Moorfields and the UCL Institute of Ophthalmology the amazing partnership it is.

Congratulations to all the finalists and everyone who was nominated!