What a consultation involves, how long to allow, and why you should not drive afterwards.
Dilating drops take twenty minutes to work, and the examination follows them.
Your near vision will be blurred and you will be light-sensitive for three to five hours afterwards.
Everything is brighter after dilation, and that includes the walk to the car park.
Along with your latest prescription and any previous scans or letters you have been given.
Checklist
What to bring
Consultants
Every appointment at Marisol is with a named consultant, and you will know who you are seeing before you arrive.
Cataract and refractive lens surgery
Carries out cataract and lens replacement surgery and sees the assessments that precede them. Assesses and operates on every one of their own patients, which is the practice’s standing arrangement rather than a preference.
Special interests: Cataract surgery · Premium and toric lenses · Refractive lens exchange
Glaucoma diagnosis and long-term management
Runs the glaucoma service: diagnosis, medical management, laser treatment and the monitoring that decides whether any of it is working. Sees patients under surveillance for ocular hypertension as well.
Special interests: Glaucoma · Selective laser trabeculoplasty · Ocular hypertension
Macular disease and diabetic eye disease
Leads the medical retina clinic, treating wet macular degeneration, diabetic macular oedema and retinal vein occlusion, and running the injection service and the scan intervals that govern it.
Special interests: Macular degeneration · Diabetic retinopathy · Intravitreal therapy
Diagnostics, refraction and dry eye
Carries out the imaging and refraction that every consultation is built on, and runs the dry eye clinic. Often the person who spots the change on a scan that brings a patient back sooner.
Special interests: OCT interpretation · Dry eye · Contact lens intolerance
Theatre, injections and patient preparation
Runs the treatment room and the theatre list, prepares patients for surgery and injections, and is who most patients speak to about drops, aftercare and what to expect.
Special interests: Peri-operative care · Drop technique · Post-operative advice
Standards
The registrations, inspections and standards this practice works within.
Statutory registration
All consultants at this clinic hold entry on the specialist register for ophthalmology and are licensed to practise.
Regulator registration
The clinic is registered with and inspected by the healthcare regulator for the treatments it provides.
Insurer recognition
The clinic and its consultants are recognised by the major medical insurers for outpatient and surgical care.
Facility accreditation
Intraocular procedures are carried out in a facility meeting the ventilation and infection-control standards for ophthalmic surgery.
Clinical audit
Surgical outcomes and complication rates are audited against national benchmarks and reviewed at intervals.
Appointments
Consultations are with a consultant ophthalmologist. Allow up to two hours: most examinations involve dilating drops, and you should not plan to drive afterwards.