Congratulations to Professor Caroline MacEwen DBE MD FRCOphth FRCS, who has been appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire for services to Ophthalmology and Healthcare Leadership during the Covid-19 Response. Professor MacEwen is a former President of The Royal College of Ophthalmologists (RCOphth) and former Chair of the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges.
We are extremely proud to see Carrie being recognised for her inspiring leadership and hard work in promoting ophthalmology and patient care.
As a past president for The Royal College of Ophthalmologists, Carrie was instrumental in raising the profile of the RCOphth, leading on many high-level initiatives during that time. She led the development of the Ophthalmic Common Clinical Competency Framework (now Ophthalmic Practitioner Training), in collaboration with other professions in the multidisciplinary team; she hosted the first RCOphth parliamentary reception in 2016; commissioned The Way Forward, a first-time ‘deep dive’ into the state of ophthalmic services, and conducted the British Ophthalmological Surveillance Unit research into hospital initiated delays and the devastating impact on patients in 2017.
Carrie is clinical co-lead for the Getting it Right First Time (GIRFT) ophthalmology programme for NHS England and most recently is co-chair of the National Elective Care Restoration & Transformation Programme Workforce Group for Ophthalmology.
Dame Caroline MacEwen DBE MD FRCOphth FRCS is a Consultant ophthalmologist at Ninewells Hospital and Honorary Professor at the University of Dundee. Her subspecialty clinical interest has lain in the field of eye movement disorders and squint and research interests include epidemiology of eye disease and the clinical management of paediatric eye disease and strabismus. She has published more than 170 papers and written and contributed to textbooks for both undergraduate students and qualified doctors.
As well as continuing in the role of ophthalmology specialty advisor to the chief medical officer of Scotland, Carrie took over as Chair of the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges from 2017 to 2020 after her RCOphth presidency from 2014 to 2017.She is an appointed registrant council member of the GMC, and Chairs the Healthcare Quality improvement partnership (HQIP).
Carrie was included in the Health Service Journal’s “most influential people in the NHS” top 100 in 2018 and in ‘The Ophthalmologist’ power list of top 100 ophthalmologists globally in 2019.