Hospital OO awarded Van Colle prize

The second Giles Van Colle Memorial Award has been awarded to optometrist Jo Mackenzie, who works at Leighton Hospital, Crewe.

Mackenzie, who has practised at the hospital for four years, told optician that she was surprised and delighted to win.

The award is to honour the memory of murdered optometrist Giles Van Colle through the encouragement and development of clinical excellence in providing eye care for children.

Judges commended Mackenzie on the relevance of her work for practising optometrists, and said that her results are immediately applicable to patients.

One of the judges, Professor Bruce Evans, said: 'We were particularly impressed with the standard of the applications this year. There were five entries which were on very different subjects but were all of an exceptionally high standard. It was very difficult to pick a winner and all the applicants should be proud of their work.'

Mackenzie, who formally worked at Alder Hey Hospital, will present the Giles Van Colle Memorial lecture at the Institute of Optometry on August 3 at 7pm. All are welcome to attend and her lecture will be on 'Contact lens management of the anisometropic child'.