Our team of doctors at Auckland Eye are committed to giving back to the community wherever possible. They love being able to help people who may not otherwise have access to life changing ophthalmic services. In addition, they have a strong focus on helping to educate and support students and eye specialists within New Zealand and our neighbouring developing countries. This is a small selection of the work they do.
Auckland Regional Charity Hospital
Auckland Eye Ophthalmologists are proud to be involved with the Auckland Charity Hospital Trust (ARCH), providing free cataract surgery for patients who have been ineligible for publicly funded surgery and are without the financial support necessary to cover the cost of private surgery.This is further development of our philanthropic endeavours as several of our Doctors participate annually in additional charitable work.
ARCH was established to provide much needed pro bono elective surgery to those in immediate need. The organisation operates out of established private facilities, including Auckland Eye, at cost or no charge and the volunteer surgeons involved also provide their services at no charge.
Optometrists, GP’s and Ophthalmologists can refer patients to ARCH for consideration for free cataract surgery, provided they meet the following referral criteria. i.e. you are unable to afford private cataract surgery, you do not have private health insurance, you are a NZ permanent resident, and you have been referred to the public health system and declined. You must also be showing signs of significant vision loss which is impacting your quality of life (e.g. loss of drivers licence).
If you want to find out more information about ARCH visit www.aucklandcharityhospital.org
Dr Justin Mora:
Justin is a ‘Visionary’, a medical volunteer for ‘Sight for All’. which is an Australian charity that aims to eliminate vision loss in the developing world. He is involved in training paediatric ophthalmologists in Cambodia and Laos. Prior to Covid he would spend a week each year in, for example, Vientiane, working with a local doctor to improve his specialist paediatric skills.
Justin has been involved in examinations and curriculum development in Cambodia, Fiji and Papua New Guinea.
He has always been active in teaching in Australia and New Zealand and is a past Chief Examiner for RANZCO and is the current Censor-in-Chief (Dean of Education) of RANZCO;. In the latter role, which his family describes as his other (unpaid) fulltime job, he has driven an overhaul of selection for training and the most extensive curriculum revision in two decades.
Justin Chair’s the RANZCO Māori and Pasifika Eye Health Committee and represents RANZCO on Eye Health Aotearoa.
In order: Operating at Mahosot Hospital, In the operating room, Justin with the resident doctors, A boy being examined
Dr Stuart Carroll:
Stuart is an honorary Senior Lecturer in Ophthalmology, University of Auckland, where he teaches medical students, optometry students and registrars.
He has also travelled to Bougainville, Papua New Guinea for volunteer work.
Stuart was a medical volunteer for ‘Sight For All‘, an Australian non-profit organisation. And helped up-skill paediatric ophthalmologists in Hanoi, Vietnam; Vientiane, Laos, Phnom Penh and Cambodia.
In addition, he used to be the Auckland representative for the Qualifications and Education Committee of RANZCO, supervising and co-ordinating Auckland registrar training in Ophthalmology and an examiner for the RANZCO examinations.
In order: Paediatric examination, Stuart with doctors in Cambodia, Children being examined
Dr David Pendergrast:
David has completed a number of 2 to 3 week volunteer surgical trips to Bougainville ( Papua New Guinea) in 2008 and 2009 and more recently Taveuni (Northern Fiji) each year from 2014. Hopefully these trips, which have been interrupted by the pandemic, will be able to re start soon. He is a trustee for VOSO (Voluntary Ophthalmic Surgery Overseas) the organisation that co-ordinates voluntary Optometric and Ophthalmic services to many of the island states of the Pacific.
David is an honorary Senior Lecturer in Ophthalmology, University of Auckland, where he teaches medical students, optometry students and registrars. In addition, he teaches the corneal fellow at Greenlane Clinical Centre.
As an examiner for the Royal Australian College of Ophthalmologists, he is involved in ensuring that future ophthalmic specialists are appropriately qualified. This role has also been impacted by the pandemic, with examinations and examiners meeting having to be carried out virtually, which come with challenges.
Also at the Department of Ophthalmology, University of Auckland, David is the Medical Director of the New Zealand National Eye Bank which supplies corneas and other ocular tissues for transplant to recipients all over New Zealand.
In order: Trip to Taveuni, Line of waiting patients, Operating in Taveuni, Happy patients post-procedure
Dr Stephen Best:
Stephen has been closely involved with the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Ophthalmologists (RANZCO) both in NZ and Australia. This has included roles as a NZ executive, NZ Br Chair 2005-6, a RANZCO Board Director 2003-2014, and as RANZCO President 2012-2014. He remains involved with RANZCO as a member of the Trainee Progression Committee.
Stephen is also involved with voluntary teaching through the charity organisation ‘Sight for All‘. He travelled to Hanoi, Vietnam in 2013, to Myanmar in November 2016 and February in 2024 to teach neuro-ophthalmology.
In order: With 3 Fellows at Yangong Eye Hospital, Sight for All in Vietnam Examination by students
Dr Dean Corbett:
e-CPAC (Clinical Priority Assessment Criteria) development and implementation
In 2000 on return from overseas fellowship training in Melbourne and London Dean became acutely aware of the inequities in access to eye care across New Zealand as a result of inconsistent assessment processes and access to funding within the various New Zealand regions. Following this, he has become active taking on chairmanship of a group of Eye Doctors, Optometrists and GP’s to develop an objective, robust and sophisticated electronic system which is web based and accessible throughout New Zealand. This system provides a single, consistent method with which to prioritise patient need for eye surgery and in February 2022 was endorsed by RANZCO as a basis by which patients should be assessed in New Zealand with a strong recommendation that all Public funders adopt the system This will ultimately lead to alignment of funding to ensure all NZ patients are treated equally across the country.
In 2002 Dr Corbett was the first ophthalmologist in New Zealand to operate on the mobile surgical unit, a modern fully-equipped operating theatre, designed and built to be used for a wide range of day surgery. He did so voluntarily provide a number of surgical lists for South Auckland Patients desperately in need of vision restoration. By doing so he paved the way for other surgeons previously unwilling to operate on the Bus for fear of potentially excessive movement in the Bus platform to step forwards and deliver ophthalmic services to other remote locations in NZ.
Dr Alison Pereira:
Every year a small group of eye doctors from Auckland travel to the Cook Islands to provide treatment for residents who are otherwise unable to access life changing eye surgery. In May 2017, the group included Dr Alison Pereira from Auckland Eye.
Each doctor spent approximately a week each in the Islands, assessing patients, providing treatment and performing surgery for those who need it. Normally 60 to 70 patients are seen each trip, with thousands of operations completed over the years.
Dr Alison Pereira examining a patient
Dr Sarah Welch:
Sarah visits Niue every 1-2 years with an ophthalmology and optometry team to provide outreach eye care, saving many patients from trips to New Zealand.
In the past Sarah travelled to Bougainville with a team, providing glasses and cataract surgeries in remote locations.
She is the Service Clinical Director for the ADHB Eye Department at Greenlane Clinical Centre and also the Clinical lead for the Regional Clinical ophthalmology group which is working towards ensuring equality of access and service for publicly provided ophthalmology across metro Auckland and Northland.
Dr Sid Ogra:
Sid has previously travelled to the Cook Islands to help provide eye care for patients with acute and chronic eye conditions.
Sid also has an active role in teaching medical students, optometry students and ophthalmology trainees in his public hospital roles across the city. He is also the clinical supervisor for the Oculoplastics rotation within the Auckland region. This involves taking responsibility for medical and surgical training, as well as reporting to the college regarding the performance of trainees according to our high standards.
Dr Yvonne Ng:
Dr Yvonne Ng is a senior lecturer in ophthalmology and has been the clinical lead for the national Retinoblastoma service, caring for children and families with the eye cancer for the past 21 years.
Dr Joel Yap:
Joel is an honorary research fellow in the department of Ophthalmology at the University of Auckland. He is also involved in vitreo-retinal fellowship training at Greenlane Clinical Centre and supervises ophthalmology trainees at both Auckland and Counties-Manukau District Health Board.
Regionally, Joel is the New Zealand representative of the Australian and New Zealand Society of Retinal Specialists (ANZSRS), as well as the New Zealand representative of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Ophthalmology (RANZCO) Younger Fellows Advisory Group.
Dr Sarah Hull:
Dr Sarah Hull is a Senior Lecturer at the University of Auckland and do monthly final year optometrist teaching. I am a 5th year medical student tutor. I have many research projects in progress and as well as publishing papers each year and supervising research fellows, I also present at international and national meetings including RANZCO, ARVO and ISGEDR.
