Optegra holds itself to the highest standards when it comes to patient choice, outcomes, value for money for the NHS, and our relationships with high-street optometrists.
We could not achieve this without the efforts of every single member of staff in the UK, and we thank them all for their dedication to our patients, and to the thousands of local optometrists who, for over a decade, have trusted Optegra with their patients.
We are also proud of our working relationship with NHS England, as we support various Integrated Care Boards to provide excellent services to patients who may otherwise face long waits for treatment; as well as providing high quality training to Junior Doctors and thousands of optometrists across the UK. As part of the relationship, we can confirm that we have never been under investigation by any party either presently or in the past with regards to our work with the NHS.
Recently, there has been criticisms levelled at the independent eyecare sector that we would like to address:
1) Concerns about Patient Care & Safety
We are very proud of the service we provide for our NHS patients. Since 2021, we’ve enabled more than 200,000 people to enjoy a better quality of life and excellent vision after treatment.
In line with the Government’s objective to reduce the NHS waiting lists, a measure of the success is that ophthalmology is the only speciality where the waiting lists have been considerably reduced since before the pandemic. This is due to support from Optegra and the independent sector.
Our patient outcomes are industry leading and well over national benchmarks for NHS cataract surgery. 99.2% of our operations had zero complications after surgery in 2024 (compared with the National Ophthalmology Database benchmark of 98.8%). Furthermore, our complication rates post-surgery, using the standard PCR (posterior capsule rupture) measure, is just 0.18%, less than a quarter of the industry benchmark of 0.79% (based on the latest National Ophthalmology Database 2024).
We already publish our patient and clinical outcome data in the public domain.
2) Upcoding cases for Reimbursement at a higher rate
We do not, and have never, “upcoded” cases for NHS reimbursement. Decisions over the severity of cataracts are strictly clinical and determined by our surgeons, based on each patient’s needs. We review our coding data regularly to ensure compliance. By the same token, our surgeons would never propose an unnecessary surgery.
We welcome, at any point, the relevant ICB reviewing all our clinical coding for scrutiny.
3) Payments to optometrists in exchange for referrals
Further, we have never paid optometrists for referrals, or implied we would do so. Our relationships with optometrists go back over a decade and are founded on a shared interest in doing the very best for NHS patients. We would never ask an optometrist to sacrifice their clinical judgement for a fee. And we have unwavering trust in them that they would not do this.
We work to the same payment plans and tariffs as NHS hospitals, and so provide taxpayers with outstanding value for money.
We are happy to share, at any point, our financial records in relation to the relevant ICB to evidence we have never received payment for a referral.
4) Poorer quality lenses than those used in the NHS
We also ensure NHS patients benefit from the best lenses on the market. We offer advanced Johnson & Johnson lenses to all our NHS patients. Compared with generic lenses offered elsewhere these deliver a higher quality of vision and carry less risk of complications which means fewer follow-up procedures for patients.
Like all NHS services, the eyecare Optegra provides NHS patients is free at the point of care in line with the NHS founding principles, and our safety record is something we are proud of.
Thank you for reading and let’s continue to prioritise what truly matters – our patients and our shared commitment to delivering a better and healthier life.
Yours sincerely,
Mat Pickering – UK Managing Director Alastair Stuart – UK Medical Director
