March 2026 marked the 40th anniversary of the first two transplants of organ-cultured corneas stored by Bristol Eye Bank. This, coupled with the national distribution service for corneas established by the UK Transplant Service (UKTS), transformed the logistics of corneal transplantation and greatly improved the availability of corneas for elective surgery in the UK. Corneas could also be provided at short notice for clinically urgent, emergency grafts [1].

The first corneal transplant in the United Kingdom (UK) was performed by J W Tudor Thomas at Guy’s Hospital in 1930. Just over 20 years later in 1952, Benjamin Rycroft set up the UK’s first eye bank at the Queen Victoria Hospital, East Grinstead. This was followed by the Westminster Eye Bank at Moorfields Eye Hospital, established in the 1960s by Patrick Trevor Roper.