Baroness officially opens hospital's Cataract Suite after major friends fundraising efforts
Baroness Finlay of Llandaff unveiled a plaque to officially open the cataract suite which is part of a £2 million unit at Royal Shrewsbury Hospital.
The cataract suite has been named after Tony Barker. in recognition of his 37 years of continuing service as honorary treasurer of the hospital's League of Friends.
Almost £200,000 has been donated by the League of Friends towards the cost of medical equipment and clinical furnishing of the department.
The friends group raises money through donations, legacies and fundraising events.
The opening of the department saw the closure of Euston House in January 2021.
Baroness Finlay, who is president of Attend, a charity that supports and expands roles that volunteers play in creating health communities, said: "It has really struck me that this is co-production – and that you have worked with your patients, your community and your staff and out of it, hopefully, you have instilled the best of all the ideas.
“As for the League of Friends, the amount of money that they have raised is amazing.
"I gather that overall Shropshire has probably raised about £15 million which is incredible as you are very rural and spread out, but the generosity of people is a mark of their affection for their health service and what they are prepared to give to support it, which is a credit to everybody and the staff at every level.”
Tony Fox, consultant surgeon and lead for the Ophthalmology Transformation Work stream at the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust, said: “I am delighted that all of the years of collaborative work to modernise and transform the ophthalmology services at Shrewsbury and Telford have culminated in this amazing facility.”
Julia Clarke, director of public participation at Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust, said: “We are, as ever, very grateful to the League of Friends who have supported the investment in this service and the wonderful unit which supports patients across Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin and Mid Wales."
After the official opening Baroness Finlay toured the suite which has been designed to enable high volume cataract lists.
