Treatment at Moorfields at risk from trial CL ban

The hospital, which celebrated its centenary this week, warned that disposable lenses were not available for many of the complex contact lens cases it dealt with. Therefore the hospital maintained a low level of these items in stock. A Moorfields spokeswoman said: 'If lenses are to be destroyed after a single use, Moorfields will be unable to treat the usual number of patients, which is between 30-50 people a day, until such time as new items are made or delivered. 'The financial implications of this ban mean that the cost of fitting a single lens will rise to several hundred pounds.' Dr Louise Culham, Moorfields' visual assessment manager, commented that the cost of the fittings, borne by the primary care groups, could vary enormously after last week's announcement. 'We might be lucky and make a good decision and get the first lens right,' she said, 'but if we have to keep trying and trying because it's a tricky graft fitting, for example, where no lens fits well and comparisons are made to compare different options to find the best fit, that would mean a greater range of costs. 'In the worst case scenario for scleral lens fittings, which we run specialist clinics for, that would be very costly indeed - around &\#163;600.' Along with other groups, the hospital said that the Spongiform Encephalopathy Advisory Committee recognised that data on the matter were 'very limited' and the risk was probably extremely low. However, both Moorfields and university optometry departments have pointed out that the ban could be equally applied to other clinical items and equipment, such as tonometers, ultrasound devices and diagnostic contact lenses.