How experienced is my Surgeon?

Perhaps the best way to gain peace of mind when preparing for Laser Eye Surgery is to be confident in the expertise and experience of your chosen surgeon. Therefore, this is one of the first questions you should ask.

Every Laser Eye Surgeon is required to be registered as a doctor with the General Medical Council (GMC). It is also recommended that surgeons obtain certification in Laser Refractive Surgery from the Royal College of Ophthalmologists, though this is not currently a legal requirement.

Unfortunately, refractive surgery fellowship specialist training is limited in the UK. As a result, many Laser Eye surgeons learn the basis of refractive surgery ‘on the job’ – making the experience of your surgeon an incredibly important consideration.

It is widely documented that standards within the Laser Eye Surgery field can vary significantly, depending on the clinic and surgeon you go with. It is important to know whether your surgeon has undergone the relevant formal training, their experience working in the industry and whether they are a corneal specialist.

As a minimum, you should ensure you choose a surgeon with the following credentials:

• Is on the General Medical Council’s Specialist Register;
• Has a certificate in Laser and Refractive Surgery from the Royal College of Ophthalmologists;
• Has a post-graduate Diploma in Cataract and Refractive Surgery;
• Is a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons/Ophthalmologists or equivalent;
• Has Fellowship speciality training in corneal surgery;
• Has Fellowship sub-speciality training in refractive (Laser Eye) Surgery.

In addition, it is a good idea to seek a Laser Eye surgeon who has demonstrable experience in the specific procedure you are interested in (e.g., LASIK, ReLEx SMILE, PRK/LASEK, or PRESBYOND® Laser Blended Vision, etc).

You should also check what range of prescriptions your chosen clinic can safely treat. If you have a less common prescription – such as a very high prescription – you should ensure that your chosen clinic has had success in similar cases. You may be told that your prescription is too high to be treated successfully with Laser Eye Surgery; however, this is often down to the individual clinic – not your prescription.

While it may be true that your chosen clinic is unable to treat your refractive error, this may not mean that your prescription cannot be treated anywhere. At London Vision Clinic, our combination of world-leading Laser Eye Surgeons and the latest technology means we are often able to treat very high prescriptions.

Another important to bear in mind is the number of procedures performed at your chosen clinic. While more experienced surgeons will likely have performed a higher number of procedures, high patient turnover does not necessarily equate to a high-quality surgeon. Instead, you should also take the success rate and standard of correction into account.

Finally, beware of basing your final decision on advertised complication rates: What one surgeon or clinic officially considers a ‘complication’ can be significantly different to another.