Serum eyedrops are used to treat patients with a range of eye defects such as burns, Sjorens Sydrome, graft versus host disease and severe dry eye and the product alleviates pain, improve vision and greatly improve quality of life for patients.
And the team behind the programme which develops the eyedrops at University Hospital Galway has been nominated as a finalist in the prestigious National HSE Excellence Awards.
More than 300 projects were submitted to the awards programme, out of which 11 were nominated as finalists.
The ‘Serum Eye Drop Programme’ was developed in the Galway Blood and Tissue establishment of University College Hospital Galway and provides routine and emergency blood and blood product services to GUH and hospitals in the surrounding area.
It is the only hospital-based laboratory in Ireland with a ‘Good Manufacturing Practice’ license to produce Serum Eyedrops.
According to Dr. Amjad Hayat, “Just this month we produced serum eyedrops for a 25-year-old patient who developed severe Graft Vs Host Disease following a bone marrow transplant earlier this year. Her consultant felt she was at risk of losing her sight without this treatment.
“We provide a service to Irish patients’ that is not available anywhere else in the country and without the hard work and dedication of the staff involved in this programme patients would have to avail of the service abroad.”
Chris Kane, General Manager of Galway University Hospitals added, “GUH has been granted €8 million for construction of a new laboratory facility and it is hoped to move into this facility in early 2019.
“The new building is much larger than the current facility and contains a large controlled environment. This will allow for further expansion of the programme and allow GBTE to produce Serum Eye drops for every hospital in nationally.”
The aim of the Health Service Excellence Awards is to encourage and inspire people to develop better services that result in easier access and high quality care for patients and to promote pride among staff in relation to our services.
The Awards also aim to highlight the many achievements that take place across a range of staff groups and teams, services and locations, and to celebrate success and promote shared learning for the benefit of other services.
