About the British Emergency Eye Care Society
Facilitate best practice in emergency eye care provision and promote excellence in patient care
Formalise training and career opportunities for all practitioners and encourage collaborative working practices
To provide a forum for the purpose of sharing resources, knowledge and experience
To establish wider recognition of Emergency Eye Care as a sub-speciality
To promote and support research in emergency eye care
The Committee
BEECS President
Seema Verma, MB BS MD FRCOphth
Consultant Ophthalmic Surgeon with special interest in Emergency Eye care
St Thomas’ Hospital, London
Vice-President
Felipe Dhawahir-Scala, MB BS FRCSEd LMS
Consultant Ophthalmologist and Vitreoretinal Surgeon.
Director of the Acute Ophthalmic Services.
Manchester Royal Eye Hospital
Vice-President
John Buchan, MB BS MD FRCOphth
Assistant Professor - International Centre for Eye Health, LSHTM
Consultant Ophthalmologist
Leeds Teaching Hospitals
Secretary
Amy-lee Shirodkar, MBChB MD FRCOphth
Emergency Ophthalmology Fellow
Moorfields Eye Hospital (St George’s)
Treasurer
Ben While, MBBS MRCS(Eng) FRCOphth
Consultant Ophthalmologist
Wye Valley Trust, Hereford
Committee Member
Lucy Clarke, MBBS MRCS FEBO FRCOphth
Head of Eye Emergency Department, Clinical lead for Oculoplastics, Deputy head of department
Committee Member
Dilani Siriwardena, MBBS FRCOphth
Consultant Ophthalmic Surgeon with special interest in Emergency Eye care and Glaucoma, Moorfields Deputy Medical Director and Divisional Director Moorfields City Road
Committee Member
Kim Son Lett, MB BS FRCOphth
Consultant Ophthalmic Surgeon, VR & Cataract services
Birmingham & Midland Eye Centre
Committee member
Richard Andrews
Consultant Ophthalmologist
Moorfields Eye Hospital
Committee Member
Sarah Anderson, MBChB FRCOphth
Consultant ophthalmologist, emergency eye care lead
York Hospital
Committee Member
Polly Dickerson, FRCOphth, MBBS, iBSc, PG Cert in education & simulation
Ophthalmic Surgeon with specialist interest in Oculoplastics and Emergency Eye Care
Aintree
Trainee Representative
Romeela Rana-Rahman, MB BS
Ophthalmology Specialty Registrar
Trainee Representative
Freddy Beer, MB BS BSc
Ophthalmology Specialty Registrar, Immunology (UCL), Health Education England Wessex Research Fellow
Portsmouth
Trainee Representative
Ian De Silva, FRCOphth MBChB MCOptom BSC (hons)
Ophthalmology TSC Oculoplastics and registered Optometrist
West Midlands Deanery
Nursing Representative
Francine Walsh
Advanced Nurse Practitioner
Royal Bolton Hospital
Optometry Representative
Helen Wilson, MCOptom Dip OC Dip GLauc Dip Tp(IP)
Principal Optometrist Acute Services
Manchester Royal Eye Hospital
Optometry Representative
Daniel Goh
Hospital Optometrist
Moorfields Eye Hospital
British Emergency Eye Care Society Constitution & Aims
BEECS Constitution – updated version 2020.01.22
“The British Emergency Eye Care Society (BEECS) was founded in 2013 as a not-for-profit organisation with the aim of bringing together practitioners in the United Kingdom who provide acute ophthalmology services within their institutions. The inaugural meeting was held at the Royal College of Ophthalmologists on 18 October 2013.”
The aims of the Society are:
- To facilitate best practice in emergency eye care provision and promote excellence in patient care
- To establish wider recognition of Emergency Eye Care as a sub-speciality
- To provide a forum for the purpose of sharing resources, knowledge and experience.
- To promote and support research in emergency eye care.
- To formalise training and career opportunities for all ophthalmologists and encourage collaborative working practices
Committee Members
- Committee membership will be open to all NHS hospital eye service practitioners.
Executive Offices
- It was agreed that the society needed a small committee of executive officers. In the first instance these will be held for 3-5 years to facilitate continuity during the initial phase of the society.
- After this the officers will be held for a period of 2 years, renewable once.
- The office appointments of treasurer, secretary, president and vice president will be held by an Ophthalmologist on the specialist register.
- Prospective executive officers will be elected at the annual general meeting, having been nominated and seconded by any member (one of whom must be a committee member).
- Only members who are present at the AGM (i.e. not just committee members) will be eligible to cast a vote.
- President, Vice President, Treasurer, Secretary
Other committee members will include:
- Annual meeting organiser(s)
- Trainee Representative for two years (renewable)
- Optometry representative for two years (renewable)
- Nursing representative for two years (renewable)
For a BEECS meeting to be considered quorate, at least five committee members need to be present at least two of whom are executive committee members. For changes in the constitution, the majority of the committee has to be present including at least three executive committee members and the decision to change the constitution should be unanimous amongst those present, and there should be no known objections from the absent executive member.
Membership
Inclusion Criteria - It was agreed that members must be currently providing regular emergency eye care in a secondary care setting
This updated constitution was agreed unanimously by the BEECS committee including all executive committee members.
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