Optical Express has announced an investment of over £10 million in state-of-the-art eye care technologies including treatment and diagnostic equipment.
In a major deal with industry leader ZEISS, Optical Express has committed to purchasing over £10m worth of ZEISS ultra-widefield fundus cameras, operating microscopes, IOLMaster Biometers and Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) scanners. The new technology, which is already deployed at some of our Optical Express clinics, will be rolled out nationwide to Optical Express locations.
Optical Express will be the first eye care provider with full national coverage to use leading edge ZEISS technology across all of its clinics. This will facilitate improved insight into the health and refractive requirements of the patient, allowing faster diagnosis and more advanced management plans. Eye care professionals will be able to detect eye conditions earlier and treat them more efficiently, improving patients’ quality of life.
The £10m order is one of the largest eye care equipment orders ever to have been made in Europe, and the largest single investment Optical Express has made in its 30 years of history. The record investment in technology comes alongside Optical Express’s continued expansion program, which has already seen new clinics open in Birmingham, Dumfries and Milton Keynes this year. Every Optical Express refractive and cataract surgery clinic will be equipped with the new ZEISS technology as applicable to the local service delivered, giving Optical Express employees unparalleled access to the innovative equipment.
Optical Express announced it had placed a £5m order for ZEISS OCT scanners earlier this summer, becoming the first eye care provider to commit to offering the technology nationwide. The additional order of advanced ZEISS equipment takes Optical Express’s investment with ZEISS to over £10m.
Stephen Hannan, Optical Express Clinical Services Director, said:
“This leading edge equipment brings significant benefits for patients and clinicians, building on the very high standard of care already provided at Optical Express clinics. It’s great news that these new technologies will now be offered in our clinics throughout the UK and Ireland, making first-class care more accessible for patients, regardless of where they live.
“This record investment is a significant vote of confidence in ZEISS’s next generation technology, and forms part of Optical Express’s long-term plan for growth and investment.”
Euan S. Thomson, PhD, President of Ophthalmic Devices and Head of the Digital Business Unit for Carl Zeiss Meditec said:
“ZEISS is dedicated to advancing eye care through the development of new technology,” said Euan S. Thomson, PhD, President of Ophthalmic Devices and Head of the Digital Business Unit for Carl Zeiss Meditec. “It is our aspiration to be a reliable partner for our customers and we appreciate this significant investment from Optical Express.”
