Heritage
During the Second World War, the hospital opened its doors to general surgical cases and most of the
ophthalmic patients were evacuated out of London. Moorfields received a direct hit from a "doodlebug"
in 1944 and suffered serious damage. This was so extensive that the hospital was nearly pulled down
and rebuilt on a green field location. However, the site was rebuilt and in 1946 the City Road Hospital
amalgamated with the Royal Westminster Ophthalmic Hospital, the Central Eye Hospital and took on the clinical facilities for the medical school for the University of London.
With the formation of the NHS in 1948, Moorfields lost its status as a voluntary hospital and in 1956 was officially named as “Moorfields Eye Hospital”. In 1950, the Sixteenth International Congress of Ophthalmology was held at Moorfields and for the first time ever TV cameras were installed in the theatres to demonstrate surgical techniques. Moorfields redeveloped the site in the late 1980s, allowing for the expansion of more specialist areas. The Trust now runs outreach community eye clinics at nine other sites where it provides a range of ophthalmic services. Finally MEHD was established in 2006 to continue the excellent standard of care in the Middle East.