London-based Optegra Eye Health Care has appointed consultant ophthalmic surgeon Mike Adams as its national NHS training lead, to manage and increase training across the company. All independent sector providers such as Optegra are obliged to train junior doctors on at least 11% of cases to keep their commissioning positions.

Adams will initially oversee training at Optegra Eye Hospital Surrey, as well as securing junior doctors in Optegra’s other hospitals around the UK. He will support teams nationally with education, liaise with various trusts to finalise placements, as well as being responsible for clinical governance.

Adams, who joined the eye hospital group in January last year, is an experienced ophthalmic surgeon specialising in cornea and cataract. He currently splits his time between Stoke Mandeville Hospital in Buckinghamshire, where he has been an NHS consultant for more than seven years, and Optegra Eye Hospital Surrey. 

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

“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.

Adams added: “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.

 “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.”

Optegra Eye Health Care provides ophthalmic services and has completed more than one million eye procedures from its 31 eye hospitals and over 60 locations across the UK, the Czech Republic, Poland and Slovakia.