Midland Eye reopens after £500,000 refurbishment

An eye clinic in Solihull has been officially reopened and is now fully functional following a £500,000 refurbishment.

Midland Eye, which closed for renovation work in December 2014, reopened in January this year, initially only providing theatre and consultation services. It became fully operational at the end of April and was officially reopened by Lord Digby Jones last month. 

The investment sees the clinic procure a range of state-of-the-art diagnostic equipment, including the lensar laser system specially designed for refractive cataract surgery, and the Nidek EC 5000 excimer laser.

Ophthalmic surgeon and founding partner, Mark Benson, explained: “We have some of the most sophisticated diagnostic and surgery equipment available anywhere in the world. This includes the Lensar laser system, one of only four in the country. We were only the second European centre to install the Nidek EC 5000 excimer laser, which allows more abnormalities in the eye to be treated and is used in the correction of short-sightedness and astigmatism.” 

Clinic developments

The clinic was originally established by a team of five leading eye surgeons in 2003 and was designed to provide patients with a one-stop, specialist service for the diagnosis and treatment of a wide range of eye conditions.

Today it works in partnership with optometrists in the local area, with some practitioners working closely with ophthalmologists on a regular basis.

In 2012 the clinic became part of Aspen Healthcare, a large provider of surgical and medical services in the UK. It now also provides a wide range of cosmetic procedures for the eyes of patients.

Mr Benson explained: “We are all still very much responsible for the running of the clinical aspects of the business, but now have the benefit of the corporate know-how of Aspen.” 

He added: “Our workload is split to approximately half private and half NHS work, with refractive surgery being a significant proportion of our private work, as well as laser correction for short sightedness and the provision of cataract surgery with multifocal implants to enable patients to be spectacle free.”

Speaking at the opening, Lord Digby said: “I am delighted to officially open this new look ‘centre of excellence’ which caters for all types of eye treatment and eye surgery procedures. It is great to see yet another company in the Midlands investing in the future in order to provide first class facilities and expand their patient base."

During the opening, Mr Benson presented Lord Digby with a £2,500 donation for Ladies Fight Breast Cancer, a charity supported by Lord Digby.  

Pictured left to right is: Lord Digby with local optometrists Gillian Goodman, Dan Sanders and Francesca Marchetti.