Lilian Greenwood MP has officially opened a new Optical Express clinic and treatment centre in Nottingham, improving access to eye care in the city and the surrounding area.
Optical Express has been treating patients in Nottingham for over 20 years, and its significant investment in the new clinic demonstrates its long-term commitment to improving eye care provision in the area. 20 years ago, more than 90% of the eye care provider’s revenue came from spectacles and contact lenses. Today, it is the opposite with over 95% of revenue now coming from their enormous investment in ophthalmology services including diagnostic screening and treatment for laser eye surgery, cataract surgery, glaucoma, age related macular degeneration (AMD) and ocular plastics.
Optical Express has invested over £3 million into the new facility – one of the largest investments the company has made in a single clinic – and it will offer a range of specialist eye treatments, including refractive and cataract surgery.
Optical Express is the UK’s leading private provider of laser eye surgery, lens replacement, and cataract treatment. It is anticipated that the new clinic will treat patients on NHS waiting lists, in addition to private patients. The opening of this new clinic will enable reduced waiting times for cataract surgery in Nottingham, thus improving health outcomes at a time when the NHS has come under increased pressure due to the COVID-19 surgery backlog.
The new treatment centre has specially trained and highly experienced Optometrists and Ophthalmic Surgeons, all of whom are dedicated to providing the highest levels of patient care from the new state of the art facility.
In addition, Optical Express is leading the way in sustainability within the industry by accelerating its commitment to reducing its carbon footprint, offering recycling services for glasses and contact lenses and encouraging patients to make more sustainable decisions when it comes to their eye care.
Lilian Greenwood, MP for Nottingham South, said:
“It is great to see Optical Express investing in our city. It was a pleasure to meet the Optical Express team and hear about the work they do to support NHS and private patients in Nottingham. Increasing access to community healthcare is a priority in this region, and this new clinic will make an important contribution to that goal.”
Optical Express CEO and Founder, David Moulsdale, said:
“Optical Express has treated patients in Nottingham for over two decades and this new clinic is an exciting next step for us in the city. We are pleased to increase the number of locations in the UK where we offer laser eye surgery, cataract surgery and lens replacement surgery, as well as helping to reduce the backlog for ophthalmic care on the NHS.
As an organisation, we are now focused almost entirely on the delivery of ophthalmology services and treatments. Our highly skilled teams are dedicated to providing the very best clinical outcomes, patient experience and access to care.”
The Optical Express clinic team will educate patients and the wider public on the many benefits, particularly environmental, of vision correction surgery and ultimately help reduce the carbon footprint created by the eye care industry. Optical Express’s own research shows that every year in the UK alone, over 750 million contact lenses are thrown down the drain or into landfill, leading to a build-up of microplastics in our oceans[1], and the carbon footprint created by the manufacturing and shipping of glasses is significant. Like all Optical Express clinics, the new Nottingham clinic will also provide a specialist recycling station for plastic contact lenses and their packaging.
[1] Optical Express survey of 3,104 Contact Lens wearers. 2016 ABDO statistics.
