FAQS

FOR DETAILS OF THE SPECIFIC TREATMENTS OFFERED AND THE OPERATIONS MOST COMMONLY PERFORM, PLEASE SEE ‘TREATMENTS’ SECTION

What Happens During Your Consultation?

You will be thoroughly assessed at your initial outpatient visit by Joe.

Prior to seeing Joe you maybe required to have a number of tests including a visual field or an orthoptic assessment.

A tailor-made patient treatment programme can then be made and therapy commenced straight away. All the latest medical and minimally invasive surgical treatments will be discussed fully prior to further action.

What Happens After Consultation?

Patients leave the clinic with a diagnosis made, appropriate advice provided and any further medical or surgical intervention discussed and planned in the light of this comprehensive assessment.

As part of the holistic service we offer, Joe works closely with other Consultant Eye Surgeon colleagues.

If we feel their opinion would help, we can easily make an appropriate referral straight away and the patient will be contacted with an appointment to be seen in the immediate future.

Why Go Privately?

Private Healthcare allows you to see me at the time of your choice and in the private hospital of your choice local to you without any delay, and usually the same week as your GP referral or you contacting my secretary.

All of your care, both at the time of your initial consultation and at all follow up visits, will be undertaken by me personally.

We will be able to offer you all the latest treatments and diagnostic tests – all of this will be undertaken without any waiting lists (often on the day of your consultation) or at a time that is convenient to you.

All the private hospitals I work at pride themselves on their clean and comfortable surroundings, with private rooms and en suite facilities for all patients.

The nursing staff are caring and very experienced, and every effort is made by them and the hospital clerical staff to make your visit a pleasant and unflustered experience.

Small things like free and unlimited parking and waiting areas and clinical areas that are uncluttered, spacious and comfortable for all add to your whole hospital experience.

NHS waiting lists now operate within an ’18 week pathway’ from the time your GP refers you to when you are seen and treated in hospital, and most patients are seen and treated at the limits of this time frame.

Local NHS Hospital services are under no obligation as to which NHS hospital you are seen at or by which doctor you are seen by, as long as you are seen before this time period elapses – if patients are waiting too long to be treated in one particular hospital, your GP has to refer you to another Hospital in or outside the district until the waiting times drop again.

NHS Trusts locally and nationally are facing increasing difficulties in keeping within these targets, especially with the relative decrease in NHS funding planned for the next few years under current Government financial constraints.

Eye operations are under intense scrutiny as to their future availability on the NHS, as they are seen as ‘low priority procedures’ and of dubious benefit by commissioning bodies, despite their obvious beneficial effects for patients. These include some cataracts, chalazion, Xanthelasma, blepharoplasty, lid and brow ptosis. Click here for further details on Low Priority Procedures.

Do I Need A Referral Letter?

Strictly speaking you don’t and I am happy to see patients without a referral letter if you wish to arrange your own consultation.

In particular, many patients requesting cosmetic eye surgery don’t come via their GP, but via recommendation from their friends or my colleagues.

I would in general, however, encourage you to see your GP prior to booking a consultation with me, to discuss your problems and to request a referral letter.

Please note that a GP referral letter is mandatory for those patients with Private Health Insurance to allow you to claim on your insurance cover.

If I See You Privately, Can I Then Swap Back To The NHS For Future Treatment Or Surgery?

Yes you can, but the rules governing this are very much stricter than they used to be, to prevent patients being seen to be ‘jumping the queue’ for NHS treatment.

If you see me for a private consultation, if you then want to be transferred back to the NHS this has to be done via your GP, who can then if they wish re-refer you back to me in the NHS system once I have seen you.

All your notes and results from your private consultations will however be forwarded to my NHS Secretaries, so there will be no duplication.

Why Come To A Specialist Eye Surgeon?

I have specialist expertise in the management of eye related problems, and in Private Practice and my NHS practice has close working relationships with colleagues in allied medical and surgical disciplines who strive for such similar subspecialist excellence.

I have spent my career, both in training and as a Consultant, developing my specialist knowledge and surgical skills in eye disorders and have worked with and trained under experts in the field.

Can I See Before & After Photographs Of Your Previous Cosmetic Work?

Yes, I’m happy to show you before and after pictures of patients who have had cosmetic eye surgery under my care.

For reasons of patient confidentiality, I don’t post pictures on my website, but have an extensive collection of my previous work for your interest at the time of your consultation.