Swindon Based Eye Doctor Receives National Ophthalmology Award

A specialist doctor for ophthalmology at Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust in Swindon has been awarded the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Medal in Clinical Ophthalmology for 2019.

The accolade, named after the creator of famous detective Sherlock Holmes, looks to celebrate the best within the academic study of ophthalmology medicine and was awarded to Hani Hasan for being the top performing student in his cohort.

Hani has now achieved a Master of Surgery degree, following two years of study alongside his work at the hospital’s Eye Clinic.

Hani has worked for the Trust for four years. During his career at Great Western Hospitals, Hani has been instrumental in a number of programmes designed to improve the quality of care that patients receive, as well as encouraging a culture of learning between staff and students.

He has been a lead in the training of nurses to administer intravitreal eye injections, which, previously, only doctors could administer. Now, nursing staff make up 90 per cent of the workload and are leading the way in nurse-led eye injections in the south west.

Hani was also involved in the introduction of a specialist teaching suite, which uses world class technology to help experienced clinical staff support students during their training.

“It was so exciting when I found out I had won the award,” said Hani. “It was such an achievement and a boost to my confidence as well.

“I am glad that the work we are investing in is having a direct impact on improving our patients’ experience and care, and that we are able to train new students much easier. This also makes it better for the patient, who can be more involved in their diagnosis and treatment.

“I could not have done this without my supervisors and everyone else in the team though, they were all so supportive during my master’s programme.”

The award is in memory of author Arthur Conan Doyle, who studied as an eye specialist for many years before turning his hand to creative writing.