Barrie Jones: ophthalmic specialist

Impelled by his profound admiration for Professor Wilson and his ambition to achieve the highest standard of medical practice, Jones moved to the UK in 1951 to train further in clinical ophthalmology. His intention was to gain a PhD before returning to Dunedin to take over the reins from his mentor. Once in London, however, the course of his life changed. He obtained a training post at Moorfields Eye Hospital, where he was fired by the chance to change the traditional practices still employed there, and the exciting new possibilities offered by the recently formed Institute of Ophthalmology.

As soon as his training was complete he obtained a part-time research appointment at the institute, which soon led to the post of senior lecturer with honorary membership of the consultant staff at Moorfields. In 1963 Jones was appointed to the most prestigious UK academic post in ophthalmology, Professor of Clinical Ophthalmology in the University of London, an appointment that was to change the face and future direction of British ophthalmology.

The Department of Clinical Ophthalmology was based at the Institute of Ophthalmology, but its clinical component was embedded in Moorfields Eye Hospital. Using his skills, both clinical and interpersonal, he set about changing the method and direction of ophthalmic practice at the hospital and transforming the relationship between clinicians and researchers.

Firstly — and belatedly, considering its common use in other fields — he insisted on the use of the operating microscope by all trainees at Moorfields, so that his arrival on the consultant staff spawned a new generation of micro-surgeons.

He also realised that ophthalmology would only progress by encouraging sub-specialisation and in this regard he had a powerful ally, Lorimer Fison, a close colleague who was committed to the modernisation of retinal detachment surgery. Others, such as Redmond Smith in glaucoma, took a similar line.

The new breed of super-specialists were encouraged by Jones to undertake research at the institute and in some cases to study in departments abroad. He believed that prot?g?s should become experts in their chosen fields, before competing with one another to obtain consultant posts (if they had not already done so) at Moorfields and elsewhere. Gone were the days of the general ophthalmologist with or without “an interest”.

Jones was interested and expert in the surgery of the eye-lids, often deformed by trachoma, and similarly, in microsurgery of the lacrimal drainage system, into which he introduced a new operation of his own, the canaliculodacryocystorhinostomy (CDCR), which was uniquely effective. When the third volume of the History of Moorfields Eye Hospital was published it was decided to dedicate it to “Barrie Jones who led the way”.

Jones’s ambition had always been to make a significant contribution to the eradication of world blindness. The coincidence of his early training in New Zealand with Wilson and his experience at the Institute of Ophthalmology in London led him to pursue the study of and treatment for eye disease resulting from all kinds of infection, but in particular those caused by chlamydia. Jones noticed that the chlamydial organism was just as rife in the West as it was in the Middle East, causing chronic, blinding eye infection in dry, hot countries where infestation with eye-seeking flies was endemic, and a low-grade venereal infection associated with sexual promiscuity in Western society.

Working with Dr Eric Dunlop, a consultant venerealogist at the London Hospital, Jones conducted unique research into the diagnosis and treatment of chlamydial infection in London, while on numerous field trips abroad he and his team conducted meticulous and arduous research, and thereby made a significant contribution to the eradication of trachoma throughout the world. Later, with the foundation of the International Centre for Eye Health, he was to extend this role to include, among others, the control of onchocerciasis (river blindness) in Africa.

From 1975 he set about garnering support and raising funds to enable the creation of an international centre that would promote the teaching and promulgation of preventive ophthalmology worldwide. In 1980, smitten by a life-threatening illness, Jones was forced to take leave for several months. On his return he decided that this was the time to change course, relinquishing the Chair of Clinical Ophthalmology that he had occupied for 17 years, and spending the remainder of his working life in the pursuit of the goal that had always inspired him, namely to relieve the burden of preventable blindness.

In 1981 the International Centre for Eye Health, Department of Preventive Ophthalmology, was formally opened by Princess Alexandra, with Jones as its first director. He continued as the Rothes Professor of Preventive Ophthalmology and its director until his retirement in 1986, and after that as Emeritus Professor at the University of London. In 2002 he returned home to New Zealand with his wife, Pauline.

Jones was asked to deliver many of ophthalmology’s most prestigious lectures, including the Jackson Memorial Lecture in the USA (1974), the Bowman Lecture in the UK (1975). He received many awards and honours, including the Gonin Medal, the highest award in international ophthalmology, and the King Faisal International Prize in Medicine.

He was also appointed CBE and in 2004 the International Agency for the prevention of Blindness gave him its Global Achievement Award.

Jones is survived by his wife, their daughter and three sons.

Barrie Jones, CBE, was born on January 4, 1921. He died on August 19, 2009, aged 88