Overall, I'm so happy with the outcome. I now have BETTER than 20/20 vision and my new life without glasses or contact lenses is simply incredible and life changing.
I chose to have 'SMILE' laser eye surgery with Dr. Shafiq Rehman at the Manchester Clinic. For context, my prescription was -7.50 (each eye) with -1.75 & -1.25 astigmatism. In clinical terms, it was considered 'High Myopia'; a high prescription of short-sightedness.
Special mentions to Chris; the consultant who assessed me during my initial eye consultation and who did my post-op exam also. He was very thorough with his testing and clear and concise with the results. I also bumped into him on the day off my surgery which was a nice touch as he wished me well and said he'd see me on the other side!
In addition, Dr. Shafiq Rehman. During our virtual pre-op consultation he answered all my questions and addressed all my concerns about the risks involved with surgery. Equally, on the day of surgery, he was calm, professional and reassuring throughout and consequently I have now been given a new lease of life!
The reason I can't give my overall experience at Optegra a 5* rating is because of the amount of time I had to wait for my appointments when visiting the clinic:
▪️Initial Consultation: 45 mins delayed.
▪️Surgery: 50 mins delayed.
▪️2-day Post-Surgery Check-Up: 1 hour delay.
▪️1 Week Post-Surgery Check-Up: 1h 10 min delay.
Thats a total waiting time of 3 hours and 45 minutes!!!
With positive intent, I assume they were experiencing staffing issues for each of my visits. However, if this wasn't the case, some serious work needs to be done with time management and patient communication as I spent a considerable amount of time just waiting to be seen!
On the whole, considering the outcome (20/15 vision), I'm not going to complain as my life truly has changed for the better since having surgery with Optegra. I'm so happy with the results and I can only recommend to others! I just hope for further patients they can reduce the waiting times!