Kingston hospital's eye emergency clinic has been given a makeover thanks to the generosity of a Hampton man.

The new Roy Dominy Ophthalmology Acute Referral Centre opened at the end of September (2021) after months of renovations to add more space and improve efficiency for doctors and patients.

It is named for Roy, a former patient of the hospital who lived on Chestnut Avenue in Hampton for some 80 years.

The retired engineer and gardening enthusiast, born in 1927, had no living relatives before he died at the hospital in 2017.

Roy was known for being strongly rooted in the community and saw his neighbours as his friends, and he decided to leave most of his estate to the hospital's charity so that everyone would benefit.

Two of his long-standing friends Ian and Fiona Hughes were there when the new clinic opened in September, as were neighbours Ian and Kate Cole.

Ian Cole said: "It was a privilege and a pleasure to have been invited to formally open the Roy Dominy Ophthalmology Acute Referral Centre, to mark Roy's bequest to Kingston Hospital Charity.

"On more than one occasion Roy said to me that it was important that I have my eyesight regularly checked. It is therefore fitting that his bequest has been used to help fund a busy department within Kingston Hospital's Royal Eye Unit that is serving a community that Roy was part of for all his life."

A board with information about Roy's life, including a touching photograph of him riding a bike as a boy, has been put up outside the clinic to pay tribute to his generosity.

The hospital held a formal opening event including a tour of the new referral centre attended by hospital Chairman Sian Bates.

Director of Kingston Hospital Charity Rob Aldous paid tribute to Roy.

He said: "We are extremely grateful to Roy for the very generous gift left in his will.

"Many of the projects that we support across the hospital are made possible thanks to people like Roy who, after taking care family and friends, choose to leave a gift in their wills that will benefit patients now and in the future."

Consultant Ophthalmic Surgeon Vijay Shanmuganathan said he was delighted to be able to welcome patients to the new clinic and said it has been planned to support more efficient and better care.