For All The World To See

Sydney/Sydney Eye Hospital has proudly unveiled the Gadigal Eye Clinic, a pioneering eye clinic within the South Eastern Sydney Local Health District.

The recently opened Gadigal Eye Centre will be a hub for outreach to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, providing in-person services as well as virtual care capabilities for eye patients in regional NSW.

The new clinic reflects a culturally safe space for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander patients and meet the growing need to support care closer to home.

Skye Parsons, the Director of Aboriginal Health at SESLHD and Walbunja woman from the Yuin Nation on the South coast of NSW, said the cultural safety of both the Aboriginal workforce and Aboriginal people that enter our services and facilities is of the highest importance.

“The inclusion of the Gadigal Carer’s room and the gorgeous gardens here, completed by the deadly fellas at Wildflower, are a step closer to achieving better health for mob that come here,” said Ms Parsons. 

“It has the ability to provide a more positive healthcare experience for Aboriginal patients that access our services.”

New technology will be introduced so that ophthalmic specialists at SSEH and Prince of Wales Hospital can extend their service delivery to patients in regional and remote communities. This means that Community members may be able to stay on country and still receive the highest quality of care.

Patients such as 30-year-old Riverina based John Reid, who has been making the 10 hour trip to Sydney Hospital on a regular basis to have his eyes checked. John is hopeful that if the new technology is installed in the Riverina area, his progress will be able to be evaluated remotely.

Aboriginal people are three times more likely to suffer from a visual impairment than
non-Aboriginal Australians and are four times more likely to have a diabetic eye disease and 12 times more likely to have a blinding cataract.