Locations:
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Bradford Royal Infirmary, Duckworth Lane, Bradford BD9 6RJ
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St Luke’s Hospital, Little Horton Lane, Bradford BD5 0NA
Switchboard:
01274 542200
Parking:
Parking is by permit (monthly salary deduction) in allocated staff parking spaces. A Bradford parking pass should also cover parking at Airedale if rostered there.
Ophthalmology subspecialties:
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Cornea
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Glaucoma
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Paediatrics & strabismus
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Oculoplastics
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Vitreoretinal
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Medical retina
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Uveitis
Locations:
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Calderdale Royal Hospital, Salterhebble, Halifax HX3 0PW
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Huddersfield Royal Infirmary, Acre Street, Huddersfield HD3 3EA
(Outpatients in Acre Mill across the road)
Switchboards:
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Calderdale Royal Hospital: 01422 357171
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Huddersfield Royal Infirmary: 01484 342000
Parking:
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Huddersfield: Plentiful parking, including free street parking and hospital car parks.
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Calderdale: Very limited hospital and nearby pay-and-display parking; arrival before 08:00 usually required.
Ophthalmology subspecialties:
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Cornea
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Oculoplastics
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Medical retina
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Vitreoretinal surgery
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Paediatrics
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Strabismus
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Glaucoma
Doncaster and Bassetlaw Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (DBTH) has 3 hospitals:
Doncaster Royal Infirmary. Thorne Rd, Doncaster DN2 5LT. 01302 366666
Bassetlaw Hospital. Kilton Hill, Worksop S81 0BD. 01909 500990
Montagu Hospital. Adwick Rd, Doncaster S64 OAZ. 01709 585171
The Ophthalmology Service is divided across 3 sites: Doncaster Royal Infirmary (DRI), Bassetlaw Hospital (BH), and Mexborough Montagu (MM). Each site has an outpatient’s department, imaging service, theatres, and minor ops/IVT injection facilities.
As an ophthalmology trainee at Doncaster, you can have your time divided between the three hospitals, but your main base is DRI where you will help provide the 1st tier on call service.
Consultants: There are nine ophthalmology consultants in DBTH - covering a wide spread of ophthalmic sub specialties, medical retina, glaucoma, cornea, oculoplasty, neuro-ophthalmology, paediatric and strabismus. All are very approachable, friendly and keen to make you feel part of the team.
Your Educational supervisor is Mr Mrinal Anand and College Tutor Is Mr Gerard Jayamanne.
Life as a trainee:
Rota: We allow some flexibility in the trainee’s rota, and this can be tailored to the trainees needs and wants, allowing them to get the most they can from the post. It is recommended you organise to meet or communicate with the educational supervisor a couple of months before you start your rotation at DBTH to have this conversation, get an induction pack and tour of the department. You have 2 theatre sessions, one of which is a dedicated cataract list (could be with independent provider) and the other will involve sub-speciality work - Glaucoma, strabismus, cornea lists etc., If your subspeciality training is in a non-surgical branch then we will have the second surgical session as IVT/Laser/Minor ops. The rest of your time is made up of clinics - Emergency, General and subspecialty clinics.
On call: 1 in 9. You will help provide the 1st tier of a 2 tier on call service
Parking: DRI – park at Doncaster Racecourse park and ride, the shuttle bus runs every 20-30 mins, or a flat 15 min walk. BH and MM – either paid on site, or plenty of nearby on street parking.
A shuttle bus operates between DRI and the other 2 sites. There is no direct transport provided between BH and MM
When on call at DRI there is an on call permit which allows you to park on site in the on call doctor spaces outside the A&E entrance.
Accommodation: On call accommodation rooms can be requested if needed, located at DRI within block D.
Contacts
ES – Mr Mrinal Anand; mrinal.anand@nhs.net
College Tutor—Mr Gerard Jayamanne; gerard.jayamanne@nhs.net
Service Manager – Kim Sankey: kim.sankey@nhs.net
Rota Coordinator-- Mrs. Joanne Pope: joanne.pope1@nhs.net
Location:
Lancaster Park Road, Harrogate HG2 7SX
Switchboard:
01423 885959
Parking:
Two small on-site car parks with barrier access (Heatherdene and The Briary). Spaces fill quickly. Street parking available nearby (check resident-permit zones).
Ophthalmology subspecialties:
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Glaucoma
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Medical retina
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Paediatrics & strabismus
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Cataract
Location:
Hull and East Yorkshire Eye Hospital, Fountain Street, Kingston upon Hull HU3 2JZ
Switchboard:
01482 875875
Parking:
On-site private parking opposite the hospital (daily fee). Trust parking available within walking distance with monthly salary deduction.
Ophthalmology subspecialties:
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Cornea
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Cataract
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Glaucoma
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Paediatrics & strabismus
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Oculoplastics & orbit
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Vitreoretinal surgery
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Medical retina
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Uveitis
Main Location:
St James’s Hospital, Beckett Street, Leeds LS9 7TF
Switchboard:
0113 2433144
Parking:
Parking available across all sites. Permit applied for during induction covers St James’s Hospital and Leeds General Infirmary.
Ophthalmology subspecialties:
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Cornea
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Glaucoma
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Neuro-ophthalmology
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Uveitis
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Paediatrics
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Vitreoretinal disorders
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Oculoplastics
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Medical retina
Locations:
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Pinderfields General Hospital, Wakefield WF1 4DG
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Pontefract General Infirmary, Pontefract WF8 1PL
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Dewsbury and District Hospital, Dewsbury WF13 4HS
Switchboard:
01924 541000
Parking:
On-site staff parking available at all sites with salary deduction option. Limited spaces at Pinderfields after 08:00.
Ophthalmology subspecialties:
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Medical retina
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Cornea
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Glaucoma
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Oculoplastics
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Paediatrics & strabismus
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Neuro-ophthalmology
Scunthorpe:
Scunthorpe General Hospital is part of Northern Lincolnshire and Goole NHS Foundation Trust. You will spend most of your time here for clinics and on-calls. Theatres are based at Goole District Hospital (Goole District Hospital, Woodland Ave, Goole DN14 6RX). Recently, there is also the opportunity for training at SpaMedica Hull (Willerby Hill Business Park, Willerby Ct, Hull HU10 6FE).
Commuting from Sheffield to Scunthorpe takes around 1h 15, depending on traffic. To Goole is around an hour, and to SpaMedica Hull is 1h30. Most trainees commute daily for their Scunthorpe placement, and arrange accommodation for on-calls.
Your ES is Mr Sakkaf Aftab, a consultant with special interest in medical retina and vitreoretinal surgery. Most clinics will be with him or Mr Nabi, who has an interest in paediatric ophthalmology and strabismus. This department has 4-6 consultants and 3-4 staff grade doctors.
Life as a trainee
Timetable: 2-4 theatre sessions weekly, predominantly cataracts. Wednesdays now offer the opportunity for ISP cataract training at Spamedica in Hull, alternating with the Grimsby trainee. Clinics are general, medical retina, paediatric, emergency and laser. Laser and medical retina clinics are usually under the supervision of Mr Aftab, but otherwise emergency clinics are booked directly for you and are independent.
On-call: Every Monday, 24h. This can be quite busy because you are responsible for seeing on-call patients in addition to your clinical committments that day. You cover ~1/10 weekends when you will be responsible for referrals from both Scunthorpe and Grimsby. At present you are expected to stay in Scunthorpe for these and bring patients to you, to be seen in room 24 in A&E.
Resources and Facility
Parking: Barrier parking is located across the road from the main entrance and permits can be obtained from security for a small fee. The nearest free parking is on Cliff Closes Rd.
Accommodation: There is on-site accommodation which can be booked few weeks in advance but is often block booked for medical students. Alternatively, there are few hotels and inns within walking distance from hospital. Most trainees stay at 42 Apart-Hotel which is a short walk away. Accommodation and travel expenses can be claimed for.
Contacts:
Educational supervisor: Mr Sakkaf Aftab
Rota/leave coordinator: Mahwish Arfeen
Grimsby:
Diana Princess of Wales Hospital, (Scartho Rd, Grimsby DN33 2BA) is part of Northern Lincolnshire and Goole NHS Foundation Trust, along with Scunthorpe and Hull. Grimsby hospital is located a 90 minute commute from Sheffield. Trains run from Sheffield train station to Grimsby town and it is an hour and a half journey from the station. Some trainees commute, the majority arrange accommodation for their rotation. Theatre sessions are based at DPOW but clinics are based in Freshney Place in the town centre, since 2025.
Your educational supervisor is Mr Satish Kotta, a consultant with a specialist interest in glaucoma. Most clinics will be with him or the other substantive consultant, Mr Naeem Zaman, who specialises in medical retina. There are ~4 consultants and 4-5 other staff grade doctors.
Day to day: Trainees can expect to work independently as clinics are booked seperate from the consultant and clinic lists are not shared. You have two theatre sessions a week with Mr Kotta, and the rest of the time is clinic. Usually your RSTA will be rostered for Fridays to allow you to commute home on Thursday evening. Clinics are a mix of general, glaucoma, med ret, and emergency. Theatres are a general mix - usually cataracts, minor lids, MIGS, and intravitreal injections.
On call: Every Monday, 24h. On-calls, unlike clinics, are based at DPOW hospital on the ward B4 eye room. You cover ~1/10 weekends when you will be responsible for referrals from both Scunthorpe and Grimsby. At present you are expected to stay in Grimsby for these and bring patients to you at DPOW.
Parking: Non-barrier on site or Barrier on site. Free street parking is available on rather rough neighbouring roads Redbourne Rd and Second Ave. You need to go to Security to obtain a parking pass application form for temporary staff, which you need to fill in and ask your ES to sign. I would recommend purchasing Barrier on site parking so that you can access the parking for the Roost accommodation. If you have Barrier on site car parking, you can park anywhere, but if you have only Non-barrier on site parking, you cannot parking in the Barrier on site car parks. This parking pass will also apply for Scunthorpe and Goole as it is a trust-wide parking pass.
Accommodation: The Roost accommodation provides single en-suite rooms for short term stays, and self-contained flats for long-term stays. This was updated around 2021 and is good quality - safe and clean. There is a well-equipped communal kitchen (fridge/freezers, microwave, hob, oven, kettles, utensils) if you stay in the single en-suite rooms. The self-contained flats have kitchen facilities contained within each flat. You will not be required to pay for accommodation for nights you are on call - your rota coordinator can arrange this for you if you email them with the dates you need. Other nights are at your expense, but accommodation and travel expenses you can claim for.
Rota coordinator: Evie Coates
Rotherham general hospital (RGH), Moorgate Rd, Rotherham S60 2UD, is the base hospital for your time in Rotherham and where you undertake your theatre sessions.
The main eye clinic is based at Rotherham Community Health Centre (RCHC), Greasbrough Rd, Rotherham S60 1RY. Your clinics and outpatient procedures are based here.
Staff are extremely friendly and as Rotherham is the closest peripheral hospital to Sheffield it is often the shortest commute of the peripheral hospitals for trainees based in Sheffield.
The department has 8 consultants which you will work with and you help make up the 1st tier of a 2 tier on-call rota.
Life as a Trainee
The rota consists of General and emergency clinics with 2 theatre sessions a week. The on-call rota is 1 in 5.
Rotherham also hosts it's own postgraduate teaching sessions on a Friday afternoon.
Resources & Facilities
Parking: Barrier parking is available on-site, a pass will be issued to you at induction
Accommodation: Usually not required as within 30 minutes drive from Sheffield where most trainees are based and on calls stop at 9pm weekdays and weekends.
Location:
Woodlands Drive, Scarborough YO12 6QL
Switchboard:
01723 368111
Parking:
Standard NHS on-site and nearby parking (local confirmation advised).
Ophthalmology subspecialties:
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General ophthalmology
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Cataract
Hospitals in Sheffield
The base hospital is Royal Hallamshire Hospital (RHH), located on Glossop Road, Sheffield (S10 2JF), and part of Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.
The Northern General Hospital (NGH), situated in the northeast of Sheffield, hosts a purpose-built cataract unit known as the Northern General Eye Centre (NGEC), where cataract clinics and surgery are performed. The adult Accident and Emergency department is also located at NGH.
Adjacent to the Royal Hallamshire Hospital are several other specialist hospitals within the same trust: the Jessop Wing, a purpose-built maternity unit; the Charles Clifford Dental Hospital; and the Weston Park Cancer Centre, a dedicated cancer hospital. Together, these hospitals form part of Sheffield Teaching Hospitals (STH).
Other hospitals within Sheffield include Sheffield Children’s Hospital (SCH), which hosts a dedicated paediatric ophthalmology service. Trainees can expect subspecialty paediatric ophthalmology exposure here. SCH also has a children’s Accident and Emergency department, where trainees may occasionally be asked to review patients while on call.
The Eye Department at Royal Hallamshire Hospital
The ophthalmology department at Royal Hallamshire Hospital is a large tertiary service with more than 20 consultantsand representation across all ophthalmic subspecialties. Trainees therefore benefit from broad clinical and surgical exposure across the full range of ophthalmology.
The department provides regional and specialised services, including vitreoretinal surgery, ocular oncology, glaucoma, cornea, medical retina, neuro-ophthalmology and oculoplastics.
Sheffield also serves as a vitreoretinal referral centre for South Yorkshire, and the hospital hosts a specialist ocular oncology service, making it one of the centres in the UK providing care for ocular tumours.
Typically, 8–10 trainees are based in Sheffield for each rotation. With a favourable consultant-to-trainee ratio, trainees are allocated dedicated clinic and theatre sessions with consultants, providing substantial opportunities for supervised clinical and surgical training.
On call duties
The department operates a three-tier on-call rota, consisting of two junior doctors and one consultant. One junior doctor provides 24-hour on-call cover, while the second works an additional daytime or evening shift to support the service.
Both junior doctors provide cover across all STH hospitals, as well as certain peripheral hospitals within the wider Sheffield network. This structure ensures exposure to a broad range of ophthalmic emergencies and clinical cases, while maintaining sufficient support to manage busy shifts safely.
The rota is shared between ophthalmology trainees, specialty doctors working within the department, and two clinical demonstrators, who combine clinical duties with teaching responsibilities for University of Sheffield orthoptics students.
Resources and Facilities
Simulation and Teaching
The department provides EyeSi surgical simulator training, along with dry-lab facilities located in Sheffield. The EyeSi simulator includes modules for cataract and vitreoretinal surgery, allowing trainees to practise key surgical steps in a controlled environment. In addition, there are facilities for microsurgical suturing practice and model eyes, enabling trainees to develop surgical skills across different ophthalmic subspecialties.
The department also organises local teaching sessions delivered by consultant faculty. In addition, trainees participate in regional teaching every Tuesday afternoon, where faculty from across North and South Yorkshire deliver structured sessions focused on specific topics or subspecialties. Trainees based in district general hospital rotations are also expected to attend, as protected time is built into the rota to facilitate participation in these sessions.
Transport and parking
Parking around the hospital is limited but possible. The nearest free on-street parking is approximately a 10–15 minute walk away. However, the hospital is well served by multiple bus routes, making access relatively straightforward.
There is also a free shuttle bus service between Royal Hallamshire Hospital and Northern General Hospital, facilitating travel between sites.
Accommodation
Hospital accommodation is available close to the Royal Hallamshire Hospital. Most trainees live in the Sheffield area, as a large proportion of the rotation is based at RHH, with commuting required for placements in surrounding district general hospitals.
CONTACT
Training Programme Director:
Mr Yashin Ramkissoon
Department Administrator:
Tracy Brian
Location:
Wigginton Road, York YO31 8HE
Switchboard:
01904 631313
Parking:
On-site parking is very limited; early arrival advised. Paid staff parking available. Nearby residential street parking within walking distance.
Ophthalmology subspecialties:
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Medical retina
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Surgical retina
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Neuro-ophthalmology
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Uveitis
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Paediatric ophthalmology
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Strabismus
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Glaucoma
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Oculoplastics