Ophthalmology and OMPs
Shropshire eye clinic treats 20,000th patient
Shropshire eye clinic treats 20,000th patient
A sight-saving Shropshire eye clinic has treated its 20,000th patient – who had quick-growing cataracts in both eyes.
Carys Fox, 52, from Wrexham, was seen at Newmedica Shrewsbury, which delivers local NHS ophthalmology services and has contracts with Welsh NHS Boards to provide urgent cataract care to patients.
Relatives were so concerned about Carys’s sight that they offered to pay for her to have surgery privately. But then the NHS contacted Carys to say she could have the operations at Newmedica Shrewsbury.
Carys said: “My sight was deteriorating fast. I couldn’t read the signs in the street from a few yards away. I went on holiday to Tenerife and tripped on a mat and fell over.
“I thought I’d have to wait three years to have my eyes done, but after a few visits to the hospital I was told I could go to Newmedica Shrewsbury. I had my left eye done in January and my right eye done in March. It’s fantastic.’
To add to Cary’s Newmedica Shrewsbury experience, she was greeted at the clinic by celebratory balloons and presented with chocolates and flowers in recognition of her being a milestone patient.
She added: “I went in and saw the balloons, and the staff said they were for me. I was shocked, and then they gave me chocolates and flowers and told me I was their 20,000th patient. It was such a nice thought. I was really taken aback.”
Carys said she was “terrified” beforehand, but now the quick procedure has been done on both her eyes, she’s urging others not to delay having theirs done.
“The staff at Newmedica were so reassuring and the nurse held my hand through the operation. They were brilliant. I would certainly urge people who need their cataracts done to go for it. The change to your life is so dramatic.
“Because I’m only 52, I’m still of working age, but before my surgery I couldn’t read the screens at work. My sight was affecting my life every day – and when it worsened, it happened quickly.’ It’s such a huge thing to be able to see again. I can’t stop praising Newmedica. They were marvelous.”
Newmedica Shrewsbury is owned and run by consultant ophthalmologists Kaveri Mandal, Carmel Noonan and Natasha Spiteri, alongside operations director Cinty Yarnell.
Carmel Noonan, Clinical Director at Newmedica Shrewsbury, said: “Mrs Fox was a wonderful patient, and she’s absolutely right about there being no need for people to be nervous before having their cataract surgery. People really shouldn’t be concerned because the benefits afterwards can be considerable.”
Newmedica Shrewsbury is one of four Newmedica clinics near the Welsh border involved in this scheme to help provide quicker access to ophthalmology services. Routine post-operative care continues to be managed locally in Wales for these patients through existing Health Board community schemes and local optometrists.
