Eye Department Gets Hand-Held Tonometer - Thanks to the Friends

A tonometer to measure eye pressure in the hospital’s Eye Department promises to make discomfort and stress more a thing of the past. The £2,395 tonometer was bought by the Friends. Nurse Specialist Sanchia Chiverton explained that eye pressure was a necessary and very informative part of ophthalmic assessment. “All patients had needed to have drops to anaesthetise the eye,” she said. “With this hand-held tonometer no drops are required, which is especially welcome with the young and very old.” Emphasising its popularity, she added: “We have quite a squabble over who gets to use it at one of the nine consulting rooms!” Sanchia Chiverton shows how the tonometer works, using colleague Jo Blackman as the ‘patient’ — with Friends volunteer Stuart Bunyan looking on.