OPTEGRA appoints new National Lead

OPTEGRA appoints new National Lead

A company investing in training of NHS junior doctors

Optegra Eye Health Care has announced the appointment of consultant ophthalmic surgeon Mr Mike Adams as its national NHS Training Lead, to manage and increase training across the entire group.

Alongside a recently launched Fellowship scheme, this move has further cemented the leading eye health care provider’s investment in and commitment to the training of NHS junior doctors.

Mr Adams’ new role will involve overseeing training at Optegra Eye Hospital Surrey hospital in the first instance, as well as securing Junior Doctors in Optegra’s other hospitals around the UK.  He will support teams nationally from an educational perspective, liaise with various Trusts to finalise placements, as well as being responsible for clinical governance.

“I am here to help with structure for training and to be a clinical contact for trainees and consultants at hospitals,” he said. “We want to create a streamlined process whereby we can offer a single touchpoint.”

Any junior doctors interested in gaining experience with Optegra should email: optegra.training@nhs.net.

All independent sector providers such as Optegra are obliged to train junior doctors on at least 11 per cent of cases to keep their commissioning positions.

Mike continues, “Although private sector support has helped to reduce surgical wait times, which is a great success, it means that a high percentage of cataract cases are now completed by independent providers so naturally there are less cases within the NHS for junior doctors to work on.

“We want to offer training in the same way as the NHS would, so if someone is a trainee in an NHS hospital and there are not enough cataract procedures, they can approach their educational supervisor and ask for a placement at their nearest Optegra.  We offer high volume cataract lists across 12 of our 13 UK hospitals and clinics.”

The first trainee doctor has already started with another commencing training in Optegra Eye Clinic York in the next few months, and six more in the pipeline.

Mike said, “We are keen to welcome trainees to all our sites and are proud of the way Optegra works. We have first-class facilities and excellent surgical outcomes, so why not pass those skills on and ensure a high supply of surgeons for the NHS or Optegra itself in the future?  Along with our varied training offering from the Fellowship to CPD events, we are fully committed to meeting our financial and ethical responsibilities.”

Speaking further about his appointment, Mr Adams says, “As somebody who has been an NHS doctor for over 20 years, it feels very natural to train in Optegra in the same way as I have always trained colleagues in the NHS.  We have a good approach to patient selection and the whole patient pathway nicely balances between quality, safety and productivity.  As a surgeon here, I agree with the ethos that if we offer the highest quality treatment and safety, then productivity will naturally follow.”

Mr Adams, who joined the eye hospital group in January 2023, is an experienced ophthalmic surgeon who specialises in cornea and cataract. He trained in various hospitals around the South East, most notably Oxford, Addenbrookes, Moorfields and St Thomas’. He currently splits his time between Stoke Mandeville Hospital in Buckinghamshire, where he has been an NHS consultant for over seven years, and Optegra Eye Hospital Surrey.

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.