OPTEGRA appoints new Clinical Service Director

OPTEGRA appoints new Clinical Service Director

Specialist eye hospital group Optegra has appointed Chris Chisholm to its UK Leadership Team, as Clinical Services Director.

Chris has a broad knowledge of the medical world, having worked for nine years with Fresenius Medical Care, supporting people with chronic kidney failure.

He started his career in 1999 as an NHS healthcare assistant, soon qualified as a nurse and rapidly moved his way up to charge nurse and then management roles within Newcastle hospitals.  He then joined Fresenius as a clinical nurse specialist and then Lead Nurse.

However in 2016 he decided on a career change, and moved into a sales role, from regional business manager, to sales manager and then Director of Clinical Services and Operations.

Chris said: “This variety of experience spanning clinical and commercial management roles means I can really directly support my team here at Optegra and give clinical services a voice at Leadership Team level.

“As I have worked in most roles in the nursing capacity, I can empathise with every individual, I have walked their walk and can talk their talk.

“I’m looking forward to this role, which is largely managing people and processes.  While Optegra is clearly offering a fantastic service with very impressive patient reviews, I believe there are always opportunities for improvements and especially exploring opportunities as the business continues to grow with additional new NHS cataract clinics scheduled this year.”

Chris’ immediate priorities include an evaluation of services including a patient review, working with regional clinical heads and governance leads to fully understand processes and pathways, ensuring they are optimised for patients to get the best experience every step of their treatment journey.

Staff satisfaction is another priority for him as he acknowledges the fundamental importance of clinical staff in the hospital group.

Optegra UK Managing Director, Mat Pickering, said: “It is rare to find a colleague with the combined level of nursing and business acumen which Chris has.  We are excited that he is joining us and really bringing the challenges and opportunities of clinical services to the forefront as we endeavour to continue to improve services and patient experience across all our 14 UK hospitals and clinics.”

Chris is Newcastle born and bred and will be based there whilst working with Optegra hospitals across the UK.  Outside of work he enjoys socialising, travel, cycling and time with his two daughters, and partner, who is a fantastic cook.

Optegra Eye Health Care is a specialist provider of ophthalmic services. Established in 2007, with its first hospital opening in 2008, it has completed over one million eye procedures from its 31 eye hospitals and over 60 locations across the UK, Czech Republic, Poland and Slovakia.

Optegra brings together leading-edge research, medical expertise and state-of-the-art surgical equipment.  It performs more than 140,000 treatments annually, both private and publicly funded. Its top ophthalmic surgeons are renowned for their areas of expertise, offering excellent clinical outcomes and great patient service.