Eye Care Liaison Officer appointed at Central Middlesex Hospital
Russell Gwebu knows first-hand the challenges his patients are facing
|
March 9, 2023
Patients in the borough of Ealing who are blind or partially sighted will now get support as soon as they’ve been diagnosed, from a new Eye Care Liaison Officer (ECLO) based at Central Middlesex Hospital.
Vital ECLOs are recruited in a partnership between the Royal National Institute of Blind People RNIB and local NHS trusts, as it is recognised that NHS clinicians often have appointments of just a matter of minutes with patients even if they have to tell them the news that they are now blind or have lost much of their site.
The ECLO at Central Mids will therefore be providing vital emotional and practical support and will guide patients to things like counselling services, help with travel, use of technology, filling in vital benefits forms and basically living with sight loss.
Russell Gwebu has taken up the post at the hospital in Park Royal and will be on hand five days a week to help.
Having lost much of his sight after a car accident when he was 21 years old, Russell knows first-hand the challenges his patients are facing.
He said, “After the car accident I couldn’t see anything at all for two to three weeks. My world just stopped, but I soon found out that everyone else’s carried on.
“When I first heard about the ECLO role, I just thought it was a great idea. Consultation times in eye clinics are limited so having an ECLO at hand to offer practical and emotional support to patients is fantastic.
“I saw a patient the other day who was certified with sight loss a year or two ago. He was in his 40s and seemed very confused with everything. But we helped him get a copy of his Certificate of Vision Impairment and put him in touch with an organisation that can help him fill in the DWP forms, so he can begin to get the support he needs.”
Sharita Jhummun, Clinical Lead for Optometry and Orthoptic Services at Central Middlesex Hospital, said, “The hospital is very happy to welcome Russell. The new ECLO service will help to support the well-being of our new and follow-up patients. The new service is vital to treating patients holistically and is very much needed. Patients have welcomed the bridge between health and social services.”
Karen James, ECLO Service Manager at RNIB, said, “We are so pleased to have the new ECLO service at Central Middlesex. Russell has already started to talk to patients to give them advice on how to lessen the impact that their eye condition may have on their life.
“The ECLOs support patients who are often struggling to find their way through a sometimes frightening and often unpredictable and complex sight loss journey. The ECLO has up to date knowledge of local and national service provision and the time to connect with patients to understand and access support to meet their needs.
“They also help prevent avoidable sight loss, by talking through treatment and helping people to understand their medication if necessary.”
To find out more about ECLOs and how to meet with one, RNIB’s Helpline on 0303 123 9999 (8am-8pm weekdays and 9am-1pm Saturdays).
Like Reading Articles Like This? Help Us Produce More This site remains committed to providing local community news and public interest journalism. Articles such as the one above are integral to what we do. We aim to feature as much as possible on local societies, charities based in the area, fundraising efforts by residents, community-based initiatives and even helping people find missing pets. We've always done that and won't be changing, in fact we'd like to do more. However, the readership that these stories generates is often below that needed to cover the cost of producing them. Our financial resources are limited and the local media environment is intensely competitive so there is a constraint on what we can do. We are therefore asking our readers to consider offering financial support to these efforts. Any money given will help support community and public interest news and the expansion of our coverage in this area. A suggested monthly payment is £8 but we would be grateful for any amount for instance if you think this site offers the equivalent value of a subscription to a daily printed newspaper you may wish to consider £20 per month. If neither of these amounts is suitable for you then contact info@neighbournet.com and we can set up an alternative. All payments are made through a secure web site. One-off donations are also appreciated. Choose The Amount You Wish To Contribute. If you do support us in this way we'd be interested to hear what kind of articles you would like to see more of on the site – send your suggestions to the editor. For businesses we offer the chance to be a corporate sponsor of community content on the site. For £30 plus VAT per month you will be the designated sponsor of at least one article a month with your logo appearing if supplied. If there is a specific community group or initiative you'd like to support we can make sure your sponsorship is featured on related content for a one off payment of £50 plus VAT. All payments are made through a secure web site. |
