Optical Express expands Inverness clinic following £1 million investment

Optical Express has upgraded and expanded its Inverness clinic with an investment of over £1 million, enhancing its provision of cataract services.

The upgrades are expected to help create additional capacity for cataract surgery in the region.

Prior to the investment, the clinic offered pre and post-operative cataract or refractive lens exchange consultations. Now, the facility can provide the cataract and refractive lens exchange procedures themselves.

The provider suggests this could reduce pressures on NHS services and help to address waiting lists caused by the pandemic, suggesting that patients in Scotland “routinely face waits of up to 12 months for NHS cataract surgery, and in extreme cases procedures have been delayed over two years.”

Ophthalmic surgeon, David Teenan, treated the first patients to visit the expanded clinic. He said: “As we enter the third year of the pandemic, patients in Scotland are reporting concerning waiting times for vital procedures such as cataract surgery. Increased waits have a negative impact on patients’ physical and mental health, as they can lead to inactivity and conditions such as depression.”

Commenting on the investment in the clinic, he said: “It’s great news for the city, as the extra cataract surgery capacity provided by Optical Express will help to alleviate pressures on the NHS here at this critical time.”

Optical Express has been providing eye care in Inverness since 2006.

David Moulsdale, founder and CEO of Optical Express, said the investment would be welcomed by local patients and NHS services, “This additional capacity in Inverness, with the clinic able to treat hundreds of patients each month, is great news for the city and will provide local patients with greater independence and choice.”